HEADLINES: Top Higher Education News for the Week

January 7, 2025

Congressional appropriators have rejected President Trump’s proposed deep cuts to federal science agencies, opting instead to keep funding for NSF, NASA science, and Energy research programs near current levels, Science reports… Inside Higher Ed examines how the Education Department is directing $169 million in grants toward the Trump administration’s policy priorities… New graduate loan caps could disproportionately harm students with low credit scores, raising concerns about access to graduate education, Inside Higher Ed reports… Frank Weller, president of Great Lakes Christian College, writes in Christian Standard about why he remains optimistic about the future of Christian higher education… Caltech has named Johns Hopkins provost Ray Jayawardhana as its next president.

Congress Set to Reject Trump’s Major Budget Cuts to NSF, NASA, and Energy Science
Science | Jan. 5, 2026

The Trump Administration Put $169M Toward Its Priorities. Here’s Where the Money Went
Inside Higher Ed | Jan. 6, 2026

Grad Loan Caps Could Hurt Students With Low Credit Scores
Inside Higher Ed | Jan. 7, 2026

Why I’m Optimistic About the Future of Christian Higher Education, and Why You Should Be Too
Christian Standard | Jan. 6, 2026

Caltech Names New President, an Astrophysicist Who Vows to Empower ‘Brilliant Minds’
Los Angeles Times (sub. req.)| Jan. 7, 2026

January 6, 2025

A federal appeals court has blocked the Trump administration from sharply cutting NIH research funding, The New York Times reports… Inside Higher Ed reports that NIH has approved hundreds of grant applications it previously denied or shelved… Inside Higher Ed also examines a new Education Department proposal to streamline accountability measures… The PIE looks ahead at what 2026 could bring for U.S. international education.

Appeals Court Upholds Prohibition on Trump’s Medical Research Cuts
The New York Times (sub. req.) | Jan. 5, 2026

NIH Approves Hundreds of Grant Applications It Shelved or Denied
Inside Higher Ed | Jan. 2, 2026

ED Plans to ‘Harmonize’ Accountability Metrics
Inside Higher Ed | Jan. 6, 2026

What Will 2026 Bring for U.S. International Education?
The PIE | Jan. 5, 2026

January 5, 2025

Inside Higher Ed examines congressional Republicans’ higher education agenda for 2026… Politico reports on President Trump’s effort to lock in his education policies through an aggressive regulatory push… ACE President Ted Mitchell spoke with U.S. News about major higher education policy developments in 2025 and what issues exist in 2026… The Washington Post looks at how cuts to financial aid will reshape how students access higher education… Foreign countries are ramping up efforts to recruit top U.S. talent impacted by the Trump administration's research funding cuts, Higher Ed Dive reports... Michael Nietzel highlights in Forbes six higher education issues to watch in state legislatures this year.

Congressional Republicans Look to Build on 2025 Higher Ed Reforms
Inside Higher Ed | Jan. 5, 2026

The Biggest Developments in Higher Education Policy in 2025

U.S. News | Jan. 2, 2025

Trump’s Next Plan for the U.S. Education System: Lots and Lots of Rules

Politico | Jan. 4, 2026

How Student Loans and Financial Aid Are Changing in 2026

The Washington Post (sub. req.)| Jan. 2, 2026

Will Higher Education Researchers Leave for Opportunities Abroad?
Higher Ed Dive | Jan. 5, 2026

Six Higher Education Issues To Watch In State Legislatures This Year
Forbes | Jan. 4, 2025

December 22, 2025

The Chronicle of Higher Education looks at the impact of rising costs on college and university budgets...Higher Ed Dive explores how community colleges are training the next generation of manufacturing workers...The New York Times reports on what is known about the suspect who carried out the mass shooting at Brown University and the killing of an M.I.T. professor...

These Rising Costs Are Squeezing College Budgets
The Chronicle of Higher Education | Dec. 19, 2025

Community Colleges Are Training the Next Generation of Manufacturing Workers
Higher Ed Dive | Dec. 22, 2025

Brown Shooting and an M.I.T. Professor’s Killing: What We Know
The New York Times | Dec. 20, 2025

December 19, 2025

The Hechinger Report looks back at how education shifted under Trump this year, and Inside Higher Ed assesses a turbulent year for research... Sonny Perdue, chancellor of the University System of Georgia, writes in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that higher education has countless benefits for students... The Education Department has a backlog of more than 800,000 applications for income-driven loan repayment plans, according to a new court filing... Denver's 5280 Magazine looks at how federal cuts to the College Assistance Migrant Program are preventing students from accessing higher education.

How Education Changed in One Year under Trump
The Hechinger Report | Dec.18, 2025

The Year That Changed Research
Inside Higher Ed | Dec. 19, 2025

Sonny Perdue: College Still Pays. We Can’t Afford to Pretend Otherwise.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution | Dec. 19, 2025

AFT Pushes Back on Slow Loan Repayment Processing
Inside Higher Ed | Dec. 19, 2025

A Federal Freeze Cut a Lifeline For Colorado’s Migrant College Students
5280 Magazine | Dec. 18, 2025

News RoomACE In the News

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ACE Op-Eds

Trump’s ‘Compact’ Is Bad for Colleges – And Bad for America
U.S. News | Oct. 20, 2025
Americans Need to Work Together to Fix Education. We’ve Both Done It Before on Opposite Sides
Fox News | July 9, 2025
Here’s Why We Cannot Permit America’s Partnership With Higher Education to Weaken or Dissolve
The Hechinger Report | March 18, 2025
The Only Certainty Is Uncertainty
Inside Higher Ed | July 2, 2024
Protect, Teach, Enforce
Inside Higher Ed | June 25, 2024
AI Can Transform the Classroom Just Like the Calculator
Scientific American | April 17, 2024
There’s a Temporary Fix to the FAFSA Mess — All Colleges Must Extend Decision Deadlines
The Hechinger Report | March 26, 2024
Answering the Call
Inside Higher Ed | March 19, 2024
Every FAFSA Delay Puts College Further Out of Reach
The New York Times (sub. req.) | Feb. 8, 2024
Don’t Dash Opportunity for America’s College Students
The Hill | Aug. 16, 2023
‘Fire the Accreditors’ Is a Bad—and Illegal—Idea
Inside Higher Ed | June 28, 2023
This Is How To Keep Academic Freedom Alive in America
Newsweek | March 23, 2023
Why U.S. News May Have to Rethink How It Creates College Rankings
The Washington Post (sub. req.) | Sept. 14, 2022
Canceling Student Loan Debt Is Just the Start
The Hill | July 1, 2022
Want to Reduce Hunger Among College Students? Stop Taxing Their Pell Grants
The Hill | Feb. 10, 2022
Doubling the Pell Grant Invests in America's Future
The Hill | Sept. 3, 2021
Making Equity Everyone’s Work
Diverse: Issues In Higher Education | March 31, 2021
Dropping the Ball
Inside Higher Ed | March 4, 2021
The Quickest And Most Effective Way Biden Can Help Millions of Americans Go to College
The Washington Post (sub. req.) | Jan. 30, 2021
Liberal, Conservative or Somewhere in the Middle?
Inside Higher Ed | Oct. 19, 2020
Should Congress Provide Additional Pandemic Relief for Colleges and Universities?
CQ Researcher | Sept. 11, 2020
The Biggest Danger to U.S. Higher Education? Losing 20 Years’ Worth of Gains in Access for First-generation and Minority Students
The Hechinger Report | Aug. 11, 2020
Our Country's Future Education Depends on Actions Congress Takes
The Hill | July 20, 2020
Why Trump’s Move to Force International Students to Take In-person Classes This Fall Is Being Blasted as Harmful
The Washington Post (sub. req.) | July 8, 2020
Supreme Court Has Ruled on DACA, Now It's Time for Congress to Act
The Hill | June 20, 2020
College Closings, Economic Upheaval Make a Case for Blockchain Adoption
Education Dive | June 18, 2020
Are Campus Leaders Prepared for the Impact of the Racial Crisis?
Inside Higher Ed | June 15, 2020
College in a Pandemic is Tough Enough — Without Reliable Broadband Access, It’s Nearly Impossible
The Hechinger Report | June 9, 2020
How College Students Can Help Reopen America
Inside Higher Ed | May 18, 2020
A Call for Ideas to Help Student Parents Succeed During and After COVID-19
Education Dive | May 6, 2020
The Courage of Medical Students
Inside Higher Ed | April 20, 2020
University Research is Key to COVID-19 Breakthroughs, Serving the Public Good
The Hill | March 23, 2020
Safeguarding Research on Campuses Against Foreign Threats
Inside Higher Ed | March 9, 2020
In Appreciation of a Public Servant
Inside Higher Ed | Dec. 9, 2019
Mental Health Challenges Require Urgent Response
Inside Higher Ed | Oct. 29, 2019
Guns on America's Campuses: Let the Colleges Decide
The Hill | Sept. 9, 2019
The Invisible China Threat: University Intellectual Property
The Hill | July 30, 2019
Ending the Stigma for College Students With Learning Disabilities
The Hechinger Report | July 16, 2019
Providing Prisoners With Expanded Access to Higher Education Is the Smart Thing to Do
The Hill | July 5, 2019
No Retreat
Inside Higher Ed | June 10, 2019
Ted Mitchell: Congress Must Act to Protect Dreamers Still Living in Legal Limbo
Fox News | May 21, 2019
Taxing College Scholarships: A Travesty to Low-income and Middle-class Students
The Hill | May 20, 2019
Black Students' 'Unprecedented and Unequal' College Debt Should Cause Alarm
The Hechinger Report | Feb. 19, 2019
Congress Must End the Purgatory for ‘Dreamers’
The Washington Post (sub. req.) | Nov. 9, 2018
Higher Education Must Clean Out Its ‘Front Porch’
The Washington Post (sub. req.) | April 25, 2018
Only in America
Inside Higher Ed | Feb. 15, 2018
FCC’s Proposed Internet Rules Could Raise College Costs and Hinder Free Exchange of Ideas
The Washington Post (sub. req.) | Dec. 8, 2017
The House GOP Tax Bill Would Raise the Cost of College. We Can’t Let That Happen.
The Washington Post (sub. req.) | Nov. 6, 2017
Why Most Republicans Don’t Like Higher Education
The Chronicle of Higher Education | July 19, 2017
History, Moral Leadership, and Georgetown
The Washington Post | April 26, 2017
The Supreme Court Frees Colleges to Sensibly Pursue Diversity
The Chronicle of Higher Education | June 24, 2016

Letters to the Editor

Higher Education Must Rediscover Its Purpose
The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) | Jan. 29, 2024
Don’t Blame Student Loan Debt on the Few Schools With Large Endowments
The Boston Globe (sub. req.) | Sept. 11, 2022
College Is Worth It
The New York Times (sub. req.) | Oct. 29, 2021
The Harsh New Reality Schools Are Facing on Title IX
The Washington Post (sub. req.) | May 24, 2020
The Flaw in a Higher Education Bill
The New York Times (sub. req.) | Dec. 1, 2019
How Long Will ‘Dreamers’ Have to Live in Limbo?
The Washington Post (sub. req.) | July 30, 2019
Readers Critique The Post: Ageism, Skateboarding, and the International Space Station
The Washington Post (sub. req.) | July 5, 2019
Blame the NBA, Not the NCAA, for Big-Time Athletes’ Dilemma
The Washington Post (sub. req.) | Feb. 25, 2019
Weighing the Value of College
The New York Times (sub. req.) | May 26, 2018
Feds Must Help Colleges Reform and Change
The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) | May 23, 2018
Making College More Diverse Takes Hard, Customized Work
The Washington Post (sub. req.) | April 2, 2018
How to Assess What Students Have Learned
The New York Times (sub. req.) | Feb. 26, 2018
Tulane’s 41% Student Sexual Assault Rate
The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) | Feb. 15, 2018
Should Rich College Endowments Be Taxed?
The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) | Nov. 20, 2017
Proposed Tax on Private College Endowments Will Hurt Students
MinnPost (MN) | Nov. 16, 2017
The Dreamers Are a Good Part of America’s Future
The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) | July 25, 2017

HEADLINES: Top Higher Education News for the Week

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Letters to the Editor

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