Get the Daily Brief
Latest Higher Education News
Federal loan forgiveness overturned at key moment
Two separate federal court rulings stopped major parts of the Trump administration’s overhaul of Public Service Loan Forgiveness, just as new eligibility limits were set to begin. In...
Education Department ramps up new financial-aid eligibility thresholds
U.S. Education Undersecretary Nicholas Kent told financial aid administrators that additional federal regulatory changes are coming after a set of major aid requirements take effect this week. The...
Loan cap scope expands—court-ordered definitions reshuffle eligibility
The U.S. Department of Education published an updated list of professional degree programs that qualify for higher federal graduate loan limits. After a federal judge put the department’s earlier...
Education Department capacity shrinks as aid oversight shifts
A new internal report warns the U.S. Department of Education has lost substantial capacity to serve students across K-12 and higher education after staffing cuts in early 2025. The report cites a...
Institutional governance and tenure: UT fires professor over political comments, settlement follows
The University of Tennessee System will pay $1.9 million to settle a lawsuit brought by an assistant anthropology professor who said she was fired after comments about conservative commentator...
Foundation oversight failures tested in California State system
California State University, Fresno will not reappoint several foundation board members after a system review found governance and documentation failures at the independent foundation that...
Accreditation and program compliance pressure on student aid eligibility
The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) highlighted the growing risk of impersonation schemes and related compliance confusion by issuing a public clarification about its role in...
AI models and government access: frontier models regain limited release status
Anthropic restored global access to Fable 5 after a two-week U.S. government export-control standoff that initially restricted access to its most powerful frontier AI model family. Anthropic said...
Tests and admissions infrastructure consolidates
ETS announced it will acquire ACT, the college readiness and career assessment provider that also runs the ACT exam. ETS said the combination is positioned to support long-term assessment roadmap...
Higher education staffing: voluntary separation at UT Tyler amid budget strain
The University of Texas at Tyler is offering voluntary separation packages to about a quarter of its workforce, according to a report detailing early retirement and incentive options for...
Federal student aid rules tightened amid court challenges
The U.S. Department of Education moved forward with sweeping new student-aid rules after the start of the summer regulatory cycle, even as federal courts blocked parts of the administration’s loan...
Anti-DEI policies expand across state public higher education
North Carolina’s legislature enacted a new ban on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at public colleges, making it the latest state to restrict DEI staffing and activities on campus. The...
Court rulings shape immigration-related college eligibility and funding narratives
Two major federal legal actions highlighted how quickly higher-education policy can be reshaped by court decisions tied to immigration status. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld birthright...
Institutional governance and labor risks surface in campus employment disputes
Employment and governance conflicts across campuses produced fresh legal and reputational stakes, with universities facing settlement obligations or new scrutiny tied to workplace speech. At the...
Admissions, enrollment, and affordability pressures intensify
Higher education affordability and enrollment stability remained under pressure as new reporting underscored how financial and policy changes can quickly reshape student demand and institutional...
Faculty governance and academic integrity disputes draw attention to AI-era teaching
Faculty and academic integrity issues intersected with AI adoption and campus climate concerns in two separate developments. A San José State University professor, Sang Hea Kil, announced she is...
Campus leadership shakeups and misconduct probes
Oxford University leadership moved quickly after a harassment investigation culminated in the resignation of Saïd Business School dean Soumitra Dutta. Oxford named Mette Morsing interim dean...
Testing and assessment industry consolidation points to shifts in admissions measurement
Two major assessment-related developments suggested continued consolidation and modernization in standardized testing. ETS announced it will acquire ACT, a move positioned as part of ETS’s...
Shorter degree programs face faculty union resistance
Massachusetts’ expansion of three-year bachelor’s degrees triggered pushback from faculty labor organizations, with AAUP and AFT criticizing accelerated pathways as risking academic...
AI infrastructure and computing capacity become a central campus planning issue
Higher education capacity planning increasingly reflects the infrastructure demands of AI research and teaching. At the University level, campus executives are confronting the need for...