HEADLINES: Top Higher Education News for the Week

March 29, 2024

Inside Higher Ed looks at a proposal from Illinois to provide more equitable and stable funding for its public institutions… A group of 11 states led by Republicans filed a lawsuit challenging the Biden administration’s SAVE income-driven repayment plan, The Washington Post reports… An opinion piece in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution considers the value of standardized test scores in light of recent decisions by some institutions to reinstate standardized test requirements.

Illinois’s Ambitious Plan for Higher Ed Funding
Inside Higher Ed | March 29, 2024

GOP States Sue to Scrap Biden’s Student Loan Repayment Plan
The Washington Post (sub. req.) | March 28, 2024

OPINION: Don’t Write off SAT/ACT. Tests Could Be Making a Comeback
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (sub. req.) | March 29, 2024

March 28, 2024

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona implored governors to extend deadlines for state financial aid applications and align their budgets with the new FAFSA’s more generous criteria, Inside Higher Ed writes... The Biden administration will not release final regulations regarding transgender athletes before the November election, according to The Washington Post... The University of Minnesota Duluth has selected Charles Nies as its next chancellor.

Cardona Urges Governors to Prepare for FAFSA Delays
Inside Higher Ed | March 28, 2024

Biden Title IX Rules on Trans Athletes Set for Election-Year Delay
The Washington Post (sub. req.) | March 28, 2024

University of Minnesota Announces Pick for Next Duluth Chancellor
Star Tribune (sub. req.) | March 27, 2024

March 27, 2024

PBS News Hour speaks with several high school seniors and ACE’s Ted Mitchell to examine the dire of implications of the FAFSA delays... According to Inside Higher Ed, institutions are asking the Department of Education for more time to gather gainful employment data it has requested by this July as they are busy processing student financial aid information… The Los Angeles Times profiles Tom Stritikus, who Occidental College announced on Tuesday will be its next president… Birmingham-Southern College will close at the end of this academic year after the Alabama legislature declined to fund a loan it had sought… After the Supreme Court prohibited race-conscious admissions, some students of color are feeling pressure to write their college application essays about their race, the Associated Press reports.

Troubled Rollout of FAFSA Overhaul Causes Major Delays for Students Seeking Financial Aid
PBS | March 26, 2024

Citing FAFSA Mess, Colleges Want Relief From New Gainful Rule
Inside Higher Ed | March 27, 2024

New Occidental College President Bullish on Liberal Arts, Champion of Equity and Inclusion
Los Angeles Times (sub. req.) | March 26, 2024

Birmingham-Southern College Closing May 31 as Loan Bill Fails to Gain Support: ‘This Is a Tragic Day’
AL.com | March 27, 2024

Should College Essays Touch on Race? Some Feel the Affirmative Action Ruling Leaves Them No Choice
The Associated Press (Star Tribune) (sub. req.) | March 26, 2024

March 26, 2024

ACE’s Nick Anderson, in a Hechinger Report op-ed, urges all colleges and universities to consider extending their deadlines for students to commit in light of the botched FAFSA rollout... California pushed back its deadline for students to submit state financial applications by a month, according to the Los Angeles Times... Inside Higher Ed reports that New York is weighing regulations that make it simpler for struggling private institutions in the state to merge with institutions from other states... A group of academics in Florida are suing state education officials after a new law, which restricts the hiring of researchers from countries of concern to the U.S., has halted their work... WBUR examines the changes to the new, online SAT that debuted this month.

OPINION: There’s a Temporary Fix to the FAFSA Mess — All Colleges Must Extend Decision Deadlines
The Hechinger Report | March 26, 2024

California Extends Deadline for Students Seeking State Financial Aid Amid FAFSA Turmoil
Los Angeles Times (sub. req.) | March 25, 2024

Making College Mergers Easier in New York
Inside Higher Ed | March 26, 2024

Academics Challenge Florida Law Restricting Research Exchanges From Prohibited Countries Like China
The Associated Press | March 25, 2024

New Digital SAT Is Shorter, More Adaptive for Students
WBUR | March 25, 2024

March 25, 2024

Up to 200,000 applicants’ FAFSA forms will need to be reprocessed after a calculation error led to inaccurate estimates for dependent students with assets, NPR reports... Students are anxiously awaiting financial aid packages as they weigh where to enroll amid delays related to the FAFSA, writes The Washington Post... Inside Higher Ed looks at how the final FY 2024 spending package, which President Biden signed on Saturday, affects higher education-related programs... The New York Times looks at a new Indiana law that penalizes professors at public universities who fail to encourage “intellectual diversity.”

Ed Department Error May Delay Student Financial Aid Further
NPR | March 24, 2024

With College Decisions Looming, Students Ask: What’s the Cost, Really?
The Washington Post (sub. req.) | March 25, 2024

The 2024 Federal Budget for Colleges, Researchers and Students
Inside Higher Ed | March 25, 2024

Indiana Law Requires Professors to Promote ‘Intellectual Diversity’ or Face Penalties
The New York Times (sub. req.) | March 23, 2024

 ACE Op-Eds

 Letters to the Editor