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New federal grad‑loan caps: critics warn caps will hollow talent pipelines
Under provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, federal graduate‑loan programs will be restructured with lifetime borrowing caps and the elimination of the Graduate PLUS program beginning July...
Trump reshapes accreditation: NACIQI’s new guard aims at DEI and standards
The Department of Education and new NACIQI appointees signaled a clear shift in federal oversight of campus quality and compliance. Under Secretary Nicholas Kent publicly criticized accreditors...
Education Dept opens Clery probe into Brown — campus safety chief sidelined
The Education Department launched a review of Brown University to determine whether the institution met its obligations under the Clery Act after a campus shooting that killed two students....
University of Oklahoma fires instructor after grade dispute — student essay surfaces
The University of Oklahoma removed and later fired a graduate teaching assistant after finding her grading of a student’s psychology paper was “arbitrary,” the university said. The contested...
Texas A&M declines to reinstate lecturer sacked over gender lesson
Texas A&M University said it will not reinstate a lecturer who was fired after teaching a lesson on gender that provoked complaints and public controversy. The decision, reported amid state-level...
Court blocks Trump cancellations — school mental‑health grants get a reprieve
A federal judge ordered the reinstatement of dozens of Department of Education mental-health grants after concluding the department unlawfully terminated multi‑year awards earlier this year. Judge...
DOJ memo finds several race‑based federal higher‑ed grants unconstitutional
The Department of Justice issued an opinion concluding that multiple Education Department grant programs with explicit racial criteria—such as Hispanic‑serving and Native‑serving institution...
Education Department moves to garnish wages of defaulted borrowers — notices begin in January
The Education Department will begin sending notices in early January to roughly 1,000 federal student‑loan borrowers whose accounts are in default, the opening step in a broader plan to resume...
UNC system mandates public, searchable syllabi starting 2026–27
The University of North Carolina system adopted a policy treating class syllabi as public records and will require instructors to post searchable syllabi beginning in the 2026–27 academic year....
Some California colleges still list transcript holds five years after state ban
A UC Merced survey found 24 of California’s 115 community colleges still told students on their websites that unpaid balances could block access to transcripts, despite a 2020 state law outlawing...
College presidents’ corporate boards draw scrutiny — Clemson case underscores risk
Clemson University’s outgoing president faced scrutiny for serving on corporate boards, generating questions about conflicts of interest and governance that can implicate public institutions. The...
Education Dept. to start wage garnishments: 1,000 notices due Jan. 7
The U.S. Department of Education announced it will begin sending notices to defaulted student‑loan borrowers the week of Jan. 7, a step that precedes wage garnishment actions for borrowers who are...
Trump pushes accreditation overhaul – NACIQI retooled
The Department of Education has reshaped the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI), installing critics of diversity, equity and inclusion and signaling a...
DOJ: several minority‑serving grants unconstitutional – funding to be repurposed
The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel concluded that multiple U.S. Department of Education grant programs with race‑based eligibility criteria—those aimed at Hispanic‑serving, Native...
Education Dept. opens Clery Act review of Brown after campus shooting
The Department of Education launched a Clery Act investigation into Brown University after a campus shooting that left two students dead and prompted a five‑day manhunt. Secretary Linda McMahon...
University of Oklahoma fires graduate instructor – zeroed student for citing Bible
The University of Oklahoma removed a graduate teaching assistant after an investigation found the instructor acted arbitrarily in assigning a zero to a student who cited the Bible in an essay on...
UNC system mandates public syllabi – transparency rule set for 2026‑27
The University of North Carolina System adopted a rule treating course syllabi as public records and will require instructors to post searchable syllabi starting in the 2026‑27 academic year. The...
Federal court orders mental‑health grants reinstated — lawsuits over grant cancellations mount
A federal judge permanently reinstated school‑based mental‑health grants to 16 states, ruling that the Education Department’s April cancellation of multi‑year funding was unlawful and politicized....
Teamsters at California State University authorize strike – campuses face winter labor risk
Members of Teamsters Local 2010, representing roughly 1,100 skilled trade workers across the California State University system, voted to authorize a statewide strike after disputes over withheld...
Ransomware evolves against universities — education sector sees surge in attacks
Cybersecurity firms report a sharp rise in sophisticated ransomware and extortion attacks targeting colleges and universities, with education organizations facing thousands of weekly probes and a...