HEADLINES: Top Higher Education News for the Week May 21, 2026 Section 1 ContentNPR reports that President Trump's plans to dismantle the Department of Education are running into the reality that hiring staff is necessary to maintain important work. . .An op-ed in The Washington Post makes the case for more civics education in colleges and universities. . .Politico looks at an attempt to move a college athletics bill in the Senate. . .The Education Department is Hiring — While It's Being DismantledNPR | May 21, 2026Opinion: At Last, Civics Is Making a College Comeback. More, Please.The Washington Post (sub. req.) | May 21, 2026Senators Think They Hold the Key to a College Athletics Bill Demanded by TrumpPolitico | May 20, 2026 Section 1 Content Left Section 1 Content Right May 20, 2026 Section 2 ContentA coalition of 24 states and the District of Columbia has filed a lawsuit challenging a Trump administration rule that limits access to federal student loans for borrowers earning a graduate degree in nursing and some other fields, reports Inside Higher Ed. . .The Department of Labor has formally rescinded a Biden-era overtime rule, writes Higher Ed Dive. . .PBS News looks at why more institutions are making it possible to graduate in three years. . .25 States Sue ED Over Grad Student Loan LimitsInside Higher Ed (sub. req.) | May 19, 2026DOL Rescinds Biden-era Overtime Rule, Formalizing Return to 2019 Salary ThresholdHigher Ed Dive| May 19, 2026Degree in Three: Why More Colleges Are Speeding Up Graduation TimelinesPBS News | May 19, 2026 Section 2 Content Left Section 2 Content Right May 19, 2026 Section 3 ContentThe Department of Education has released a final Workforce Pell Grant rule. . .The University of Arizona is making an intentional effort to lower its student numbers, writes The Chronicle of Higher Education. . .Stuart R. Bell has been named the sole finalist for the presidency of the University of Florida. . .Workforce Pell Regulations FinalizedInside Higher Ed (sub. req.) | May 19, 2026The University That Chose to ShrinkThe Chronicle of Higher Education (sub. req.)| May 18, 2026University of Florida Selects Dr. Stuart Bell as Sole Finalist for 14th PresidentThe Gainesville Sun | May 13, 2026 Section 3 Content Left Section 3 Content Right May 18, 2026 Section 4 ContentInside Higher Ed reports that colleges and universities are adjusting their internal operations and oversight structures to comply with incoming federal rules on the college accreditation process . . . NPR looks at how selective colleges successfully wooed rural students to boost application numbers, though the institutions now face the tougher challenge of getting them to enroll . . . The University of Chicago has announced a major financial aid expansion that will fully cover undergraduate tuition for students whose families earn less than $250,000 per year . . . Axios highlights a significant policy shift as President Trump hardens his stance on immigration, abandoning his past expressions of sympathy for DACA recipients.Institutions Prepare for New Accreditation RegulationsInside Higher Ed (sub. req.) | May 18, 2026Colleges got more rural students to apply. The challenge is getting them to attendNPR | May 16, 2026University Of Chicago To Pay Tuition For Families With Incomes Below $250,000Forbes | May 13, 2026Trump Abandons Dreamers Despite Past SympathyAxios (sub. req.) | May 18, 2026 Section 4 Content Left Section 4 Content Right May 15, 2026 Section 5 ContentMIT President Sally Kornbluth warned that the institution is doing less research and enrolling fewer graduate students as a result of federal actions, reports The Washington Post. . . Higher Ed Dive covers a House hearing where House Republicans and Democrats alike questioned Education Secretary Linda McMahon over new regulations that exclude graduate nursing program students from higher loan caps. . . The Chronicle of Higher Education looks at plans for a new "AI-first" college. MIT President Blames Federal Policy Shifts for Big Drop in Research on CampusThe Washington Post | May 15, 2026 McMahon Grilled Over Professional Degree Definition, OCR CaseloadHigher Ed Dive | May 14, 2026A New ‘AI-First’ College Aims to Offer Cheaper, Employer-Friendly DegreesThe Chronicle of Higher Education | May 14, 2026 Section 5 Content Left Section 5 Content Right Section 6 Content Section 6 Content Left Section 6 Content Right Button Content Rail Content 1News RoomACE In the News Explore More ACE Op-Eds Trump’s ‘Compact’ Is Bad for Colleges – And Bad for AmericaU.S. News | Oct. 20, 2025Americans Need to Work Together to Fix Education. We’ve Both Done It Before on Opposite SidesFox News | July 9, 2025Here’s Why We Cannot Permit America’s Partnership With Higher Education to Weaken or DissolveThe Hechinger Report | March 18, 2025The Only Certainty Is UncertaintyInside Higher Ed | July 2, 2024Protect, Teach, EnforceInside Higher Ed | June 25, 2024AI Can Transform the Classroom Just Like the CalculatorScientific American | April 17, 2024There’s a Temporary Fix to the FAFSA Mess — All Colleges Must Extend Decision DeadlinesThe Hechinger Report | March 26, 2024Answering the CallInside Higher Ed | March 19, 2024Every FAFSA Delay Puts College Further Out of ReachThe New York Times (sub. req.) | Feb. 8, 2024Don’t Dash Opportunity for America’s College StudentsThe Hill | Aug. 16, 2023‘Fire the Accreditors’ Is a Bad—and Illegal—IdeaInside Higher Ed | June 28, 2023This Is How To Keep Academic Freedom Alive in AmericaNewsweek | March 23, 2023Why U.S. News May Have to Rethink How It Creates College Rankings The Washington Post (sub. req.) | Sept. 14, 2022Canceling Student Loan Debt Is Just the StartThe Hill | July 1, 2022Want to Reduce Hunger Among College Students? Stop Taxing Their Pell GrantsThe Hill | Feb. 10, 2022Doubling the Pell Grant Invests in America's FutureThe Hill | Sept. 3, 2021Making Equity Everyone’s WorkDiverse: Issues In Higher Education | March 31, 2021Dropping the BallInside Higher Ed | March 4, 2021The Quickest And Most Effective Way Biden Can Help Millions of Americans Go to CollegeThe Washington Post (sub. req.) | Jan. 30, 2021Liberal, Conservative or Somewhere in the Middle?Inside Higher Ed | Oct. 19, 2020Should Congress Provide Additional Pandemic Relief for Colleges and Universities?CQ Researcher | Sept. 11, 2020The Biggest Danger to U.S. Higher Education? Losing 20 Years’ Worth of Gains in Access for First-generation and Minority StudentsThe Hechinger Report | Aug. 11, 2020Our Country's Future Education Depends on Actions Congress TakesThe Hill | July 20, 2020Why Trump’s Move to Force International Students to Take In-person Classes This Fall Is Being Blasted as HarmfulThe Washington Post (sub. req.) | July 8, 2020Supreme Court Has Ruled on DACA, Now It's Time for Congress to ActThe Hill | June 20, 2020College Closings, Economic Upheaval Make a Case for Blockchain AdoptionEducation Dive | June 18, 2020Are Campus Leaders Prepared for the Impact of the Racial Crisis?Inside Higher Ed | June 15, 2020College in a Pandemic is Tough Enough — Without Reliable Broadband Access, It’s Nearly ImpossibleThe Hechinger Report | June 9, 2020How College Students Can Help Reopen AmericaInside Higher Ed | May 18, 2020A Call for Ideas to Help Student Parents Succeed During and After COVID-19 Education Dive | May 6, 2020The Courage of Medical StudentsInside Higher Ed | April 20, 2020University Research is Key to COVID-19 Breakthroughs, Serving the Public GoodThe Hill | March 23, 2020Safeguarding Research on Campuses Against Foreign ThreatsInside Higher Ed | March 9, 2020In Appreciation of a Public ServantInside Higher Ed | Dec. 9, 2019Mental Health Challenges Require Urgent ResponseInside Higher Ed | Oct. 29, 2019Guns on America's Campuses: Let the Colleges DecideThe Hill | Sept. 9, 2019The Invisible China Threat: University Intellectual PropertyThe Hill | July 30, 2019Ending the Stigma for College Students With Learning DisabilitiesThe Hechinger Report | July 16, 2019Providing Prisoners With Expanded Access to Higher Education Is the Smart Thing to DoThe Hill | July 5, 2019No RetreatInside Higher Ed | June 10, 2019Ted Mitchell: Congress Must Act to Protect Dreamers Still Living in Legal LimboFox News | May 21, 2019Taxing College Scholarships: A Travesty to Low-income and Middle-class StudentsThe Hill | May 20, 2019Black Students' 'Unprecedented and Unequal' College Debt Should Cause AlarmThe Hechinger Report | Feb. 19, 2019Congress Must End the Purgatory for ‘Dreamers’ The Washington Post (sub. req.) | Nov. 9, 2018Higher Education Must Clean Out Its ‘Front Porch’The Washington Post (sub. req.) | April 25, 2018Only in AmericaInside Higher Ed | Feb. 15, 2018FCC’s Proposed Internet Rules Could Raise College Costs and Hinder Free Exchange of IdeasThe Washington Post (sub. req.) | Dec. 8, 2017The House GOP Tax Bill Would Raise the Cost of College. We Can’t Let That Happen.The Washington Post (sub. req.) | Nov. 6, 2017Why Most Republicans Don’t Like Higher EducationThe Chronicle of Higher Education | July 19, 2017History, Moral Leadership, and GeorgetownThe Washington Post | April 26, 2017The Supreme Court Frees Colleges to Sensibly Pursue DiversityThe Chronicle of Higher Education | June 24, 2016 Letters to the Editor Higher Education Must Rediscover Its PurposeThe Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) | Jan. 29, 2024Don’t Blame Student Loan Debt on the Few Schools With Large EndowmentsThe Boston Globe (sub. req.) | Sept. 11, 2022 College Is Worth ItThe New York Times (sub. req.) | Oct. 29, 2021The Harsh New Reality Schools Are Facing on Title IXThe Washington Post (sub. req.) | May 24, 2020The Flaw in a Higher Education BillThe New York Times (sub. req.) | Dec. 1, 2019How Long Will ‘Dreamers’ Have to Live in Limbo?The Washington Post (sub. req.) | July 30, 2019Readers Critique The Post: Ageism, Skateboarding, and the International Space StationThe Washington Post (sub. req.) | July 5, 2019Blame the NBA, Not the NCAA, for Big-Time Athletes’ DilemmaThe Washington Post (sub. req.) | Feb. 25, 2019Weighing the Value of CollegeThe New York Times (sub. req.) | May 26, 2018Feds Must Help Colleges Reform and ChangeThe Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) | May 23, 2018Making College More Diverse Takes Hard, Customized WorkThe Washington Post (sub. req.) | April 2, 2018How to Assess What Students Have LearnedThe New York Times (sub. req.) | Feb. 26, 2018Tulane’s 41% Student Sexual Assault RateThe Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) | Feb. 15, 2018Should Rich College Endowments Be Taxed?The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) | Nov. 20, 2017Proposed Tax on Private College Endowments Will Hurt StudentsMinnPost (MN) | Nov. 16, 2017The Dreamers Are a Good Part of America’s FutureThe Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) | July 25, 2017 Higher Education News Links The Chronicle of Higher EducationInside Higher EdDiverse: Issues In Higher EducationPolitico's Morning EducationNew York Times EducationNew York Times Education LifeLos Angeles Times EducationNPR's Ed BlogWashington Post EducationThe Hechinger ReportUniversity BusinessEducation WeekUSA Today EducationHuffPost EducationEducation Writers Association@ACEducation Education Reporters Twitter List Rail Content 2 Rail Content 3 Page Content