HEADLINES: Top Higher Education News for the Week

December 12, 2025

Several college presidents spoke with ABC News about challenges facing higher education and the future of the sector... Republicans on a House education committee advanced two bills aimed at improving financial aid transparency, Inside Higher Ed reports... Jabari Simama, former president of Georgia Piedmont Technical College, details in Governing the harm federal cuts will have on students attending community colleges and Minority-Serving Institutions.... Willamette University and Pacific University announced plans to merge... After 38 years of service, Troy University Chancellor Jack Hawkins Jr. will step down in 2027, Al.com reports.

University Presidents Reflect on Academic Freedom amid Trump’s Push to Reshape Higher Education
ABC News | Dec. 11, 2025

House Ed Committee Advances Financial Aid Transparency Bills
Inside Higher Ed | Dec. 12, 2025

The Shortchanging of Vital Institutions of Higher Ed
Governing | Dec. 12, 2025

Willamette, Pacific Universities Announce Plan to Merge
Oregon Public Radio | Dec. 11, 2025

Alabama College President, Longest-Serving in Us, to Step Down
AL.com | Dec. 11, 2025

December 11, 2025

The Los Angeles Times looks at the myriad and intensified challenges undocumented students are facing under the Trump administration... The Department of Education issued a request for information on accreditation, Inside Higher Ed reports... The vast majority of employers believe colleges and universities are adequately preparing students for the workforce, according to a new report... AI and the politicization of higher education are the two most consequential trends shaping the sector since 2000, according to 50 higher education leaders surveyed by The Chronicle of Higher Education.

DACA Was Once a Lifeline for Undocumented Youth. It’s Leaving the Next Generation Behind
Los Anageles Times (sub. req.) | Dec. 11, 2025

ED Seeks Public Comment on Accreditation Reform
Inside Higher Ed | Dec. 11, 2025

Most Employers Confident in Higher Ed
Inside Higher Ed | Dec. 11, 2025

The Quarter-Century Project
The Chronicle of Higher Education (sub. req.) | Dec. 10, 2025

December 10, 2025

Canada is expanding efforts to recruit international researchers amid concerns that U.S. research and immigration cuts are weakening the country’s global competitiveness, The New York Times reports... The Trump administration reached a settlement that would formally end the Biden-era SAVE student loan repayment plan, forcing millions of borrowers to shift to another repayment option, The Washington Post reports... Talks on how to expand the Pell Grant to short-term workforce training programs are progressing with no critical areas of disagreement emerging midway through this week's rulemaking panel, Inside Higher Ed reports... NPR covers why a record number of students are applying for financial aid this year.

‘Come North!’ Canada Makes Play for H-1B Visa Holders With New Talent Drive
The New York Times (sub. req.) | Dec. 9, 2025

Trump Administration Strikes Deal to End Biden’s Student Loan Repayment Plan
The Washington Post (sub. req.) | Dec. 9, 2025

What to Know About Workforce Pell Talks
Inside Higher Ed | Dec. 10, 2025

Why a Record Number of Students Applied for Federal Financial Aid This Year
NPR | Dec. 10, 2025

December 9, 2025

An Inside Higher Ed report examines perspectives on higher education policies included in the One Big Beautiful Bill... Eric Holcomb, former Indiana governor, details in The Washington Post the open-minded, problem-solving community he experienced while teaching at Harvard... The Education Department said it will notify students if they are considering colleges where graduates earn less than high school graduates four years after completion, reports The Chronicle of Higher Education... The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget warned the Pell Grant will face a shortfall of at least $61 billion over the next 10 years, Inside Higher Ed reports... Some Maryland universities are facing declining enrollment of international students due to the federal immigration crackdown, reports the Capital News Service.

New Deep Dive: Making OBBBA Implementation Work for Students
Inside Higher Ed | Dec. 9, 2025

I Was a Red State Governor. What I Saw at Harvard Surprised Me.
The Washington Post (sub. req.) | Dec. 8, 2025

Nearly One-Fourth of Colleges Will Come With a Warning When Students Apply for Financial Aid
The Chronicle of Higher Education (sub. req.) | Dec. 9, 2025

Budgetary Watchdog Warns Pell Grant Still Projected to Face Shortfall
Inside Higher Ed | Dec. 9, 2025

New Student Loan Rule Could Dissuade People from Advanced Nursing Degrees
Capital News Service | Dec. 9, 2025

December 8, 2025

Inside Higher Ed previews this week's negotiated rulemaking panel that will consider regulations to expand the Pell Grant to workforce training programs... Seven college presidents and chancellors spoke at The New York Times' DealBook Summit about challenges facing colleges and universities... The Fort Worth Star-Telegram looks at the surge of first-generation students applying to college in Texas... The University of Kansas is expanding its credential program for students with disabilities.

Education Dept. Wants to Begin and End Workforce Pell This Week
Inside Higher Ed | Dec. 8, 2025

The Education of Higher Education
The New York Times (sub. req.) | Dec. 7, 2025

First-Generation College Applications Are Surging in Texas. Here’s Why.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram | Dec. 6, 2025

Kansas Scales Credential Program for Students With Disabilities
Inside Higher Ed | Dec. 8, 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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ACE Op-Eds

Letters to the Editor

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