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Latest Higher Education News
Disability accommodations surge at elite campuses — debate over diagnosis and fairness
Colleges report sharp increases in students receiving disability accommodations—figures range widely by institution but include Stanford reporting roughly 38% of undergraduates and Harvard about...
HEPI shows costs rising—administrative and faculty pay lead pressure on budgets
The Higher Education Price Index rose 3.6% in fiscal 2025, outpacing consumer inflation and prolonging elevated cost pressure for colleges and universities. HEPI flagged administrative and faculty...
House Ed panel advances financial‑aid transparency bills — net‑price tools coming
A House education committee advanced two bipartisan bills requiring the Education Department to produce a universal net‑price calculator and standardized financial‑aid award letters for students...
New School sweeps faculty with buyouts: 40% offered separation
The New School sent separation-offer letters to about 40% of its full-time faculty in early December as part of a rapid cost-cutting plan to close a $48 million budget shortfall, university...
Workforce Pell timeline tight: Colleges race to meet July rollout
The Education Department and higher-education stakeholders agreed on proposed rules this week to implement Workforce Pell Grants, a policy expanding Pell eligibility to short-term career programs...
Judge denies Ed Dept delay: Borrower-defense deadline stands
A federal judge refused the U.S. Department of Education’s request for an 18-month extension to decide the remaining borrower-defense claims under the 2022 Sweet v. McMahon settlement, preserving...
Bipartisan bill would spin up DARPA-style education lab: NCADE pitched
Lawmakers introduced bipartisan legislation this week proposing a DARPA-modeled research hub inside the Institute of Education Sciences called the National Center for Advanced Development in...
Harvard replaces two center leaders: Health and human-rights posts shift
Harvard announced two leadership changes at campus centers this week. The university replaced the director of a public-health affiliated center after criticism that the center’s programming had...
Berkeley suspends lecturer: Hunger strike, in-class advocacy trigger six‑month penalty
UC Berkeley suspended lecturer Peyrin Kao without pay for six months after he combined classroom criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza with a public hunger-strike advocacy campaign, the...
Boards and academic freedom: Trustees urged to balance speech and campus autonomy
Higher-education governance is once again in the spotlight as boards, presidents and trustees assess free-speech obligations under federal scrutiny and state pressure. AGB’s Trusteeship podcast...
Two Oregon universities plan merger: Willamette and Pacific sign letter of intent
Willamette University and Pacific University signed a letter of intent to merge and create a combined institution—provisionally branded the University of the Northwest—that would be Oregon’s...
Ed Dept seeks public comment on accreditation overhaul: RFI targets handbook
The U.S. Department of Education issued a request for information to solicit feedback on rewriting the accreditation handbook as part of a Trump administration push to 'reform and strengthen'...
House panel advances financial-aid clarity bills: Standard award letters and net‑price tool move forward
A House Education Committee advanced two bipartisan bills aimed at making college costs clearer to prospective students: one would require the Education Department to create a universal net price...
Harvard FXB director to step down amid Palestine program scrutiny
Harvard announced leadership changes at its François‑Xavier Bagnoud (FXB) Center for Health and Human Rights after months of criticism of its Palestine program. Dean Andrea Baccarelli named Kari...
Berkeley suspends lecturer after Gaza critique and public hunger strike
The University of California, Berkeley suspended lecturer Peyrin Kao for six months after he used classroom time in 2023 to criticize Israel’s military campaign in Gaza and later publicized a...
Education Department opens accreditation rewrite comment period
The U.S. Department of Education issued a request for information to update its accreditation handbook, seeking public input on reducing regulatory burdens and encouraging ‘‘innovation’’ at...
House advances financial‑aid transparency bills to standardize pricing
A House education committee advanced two bipartisan bills to make college costs clearer for students: the Student Financial Clarity Act, which would require a universal net‑price calculator and...
College operating costs rise 3.6% in fiscal 2025 — HEPI
The Higher Education Price Index rose 3.6% in fiscal 2025, the Commonfund Institute reported, keeping college operating cost inflation above long‑run norms. Administrative and faculty salaries...
Disability accommodations swell at elite campuses — Stanford at 40%
Requests for disability accommodations have surged across campuses, driven largely by diagnosed ADHD, anxiety and depression and by greater access to mental‑health services. Stanford reports...
Willamette and Pacific sign letter to merge into larger private university
Willamette University and Pacific University signed a letter of intent to negotiate a definitive merger that would create the largest private university in Oregon, provisionally called the...