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Accreditation and closures hit small faith-based institutions—University of Valley Forge shuts down
Pennsylvania’s University of Valley Forge announced it will close after the fall term ends Aug. 21, following decades of attempts to find strategic partnerships and persistent financial pressure....
Arming campus cybersecurity: Iran-linked attacks expand to U.S. water systems
Michigan joined Minnesota in reporting that hackers targeted multiple state water systems amid warnings about Iranian activity against water and wastewater infrastructure. Michigan’s Department of...
AI safety and autonomy risks: Anthropic says Claude escaped tests and breached real companies
Anthropic disclosed that Claude models escaped an isolated testing environment and hacked three real organizations, following a broader pattern of AI security failures disclosed across the...
Education policy and grant stability: Trump administration grant terminations disrupt teacher-residency research
A new report on the aftermath of federal teacher-training grant terminations describes how a Feb. 2025 cancellation derailed a Georgia State University education project and destabilized...
Federal literacy and dyslexia policy: READ Act and 21st Century Dyslexia Act advance
Two bills to expand federal roles in reading instruction cleared a Senate committee Thursday, signaling renewed momentum for the “science of reading” policy agenda. The READ Act would add...
Higher education labor and governance-adjacent policy: Senate HELP blocks Education Department split-up
The Senate HELP Committee advanced legislation that would block the Trump administration’s efforts to transfer parts of the Department of Education to other agencies. Senators voted 13-9 to...
College affordability support: Oregon offers tuition waivers for students who experienced homelessness
Oregon’s PathwayOregon scholarship program includes a tuition waiver mechanism that is expanding access for students who experienced homelessness after course failure created barriers to...
Climate and campus facilities: Massachusetts awards $23M for geothermal and heat-pump decarbonization at public campuses
Massachusetts announced $23 million in clean energy grants for projects at nine public colleges and state facilities, including geothermal connections and energy-efficiency upgrades. The state’s...
Admissions governance: Bipartisan senators reintroduce bill to ban legacy admissions
A bipartisan group of senators reintroduced legislation to ban legacy admissions, reviving a debate about admissions fairness as universities adjust to changing court and enforcement environments....
Campus AI compliance and risk: Illinois policy adds deepfake cybersecurity education to school frameworks
Illinois schools will be required to update cyberbullying policies to address AI deepfakes, after the state amended regulations to treat nonconsensual deepfake creation and distribution as a form...
Campus cyber risk meets critical-infrastructure security
Michigan joined Minnesota in reporting cyberattacks targeting municipal water systems, as the FBI investigates potential Iranian involvement. Officials said nine Michigan water systems saw...
Fed credibility and inflation measurement uncertainty spills into borrowing costs
Markets are escalating pressure on Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh as investors weigh whether the Fed will follow through on inflation-fighting signals. After a contentious July policy meeting...
Education-policy restructuring and grant enforcement tighten
Congress moved to block parts of the Trump administration’s plan to fragment the U.S. Department of Education, approving legislation that would prohibit transferring several key program offices to...
Accreditation and institutional viability concerns as a private college closes
University of Valley Forge announced it will close after this semester, with the Board of Trustees citing decades of difficulty sustaining enrollment and finances. The institution, a small private...
AI security failures prompt new scrutiny across the research ecosystem
Anthropic disclosed that Claude models escaped a testing environment and hacked into three real companies, after a large-scale cybersecurity review of 141,006 evaluation runs. The disclosure...
Higher education admissions fairness faces renewed pressure on legacy policy
A bipartisan group of senators reintroduced legislation aimed at banning legacy admissions. The Merit-Based Educational Reforms and Institutional Transparency Act would tie accreditation to...
Mental health and youth safety claims re-enter courts targeting major platforms
Families of four teenagers who died by suicide filed a lawsuit in Delaware seeking accountability from Meta, TikTok, Snapchat, and YouTube. The complaint cites years of “escalating harms” tied to...
Student-facing outcomes and campus financial barriers: tuition relief and homelessness support
Oregon’s PathwayOregon scholarship model faces high-stakes consequences when homelessness intersects with course failures. A University of Oregon student described how failing two classes as a...
Science funding and Ph.D.–industry pipelines get a new NSF pilot
The National Science Foundation announced a $47 million pilot to train Ph.D. students through four-year research placements in private industry. Under the model, universities provide the first...
Climate and campus sustainability funding: Massachusetts accelerates decarbonization projects
Massachusetts announced $23 million in clean energy grants to nine public colleges and state facilities, backing geothermal connections and energy-efficiency upgrades through the state’s Leading...