HEADLINES: Top Higher Education News for the Week

October 2, 2025

The Trump administration has asked some colleges to align with its preferred policies in order to gain a competitive edge in securing research funding, The Wall Street Journal reports… This year’s FAFSA process is off to a smooth start, with 125,000 applications already begun, The Hill reports… International students in California are fearful that the Trump administration’s immigration polices could impact them, EdSource reports… A new survey highlights how professors are using AI.

White House Asks Colleges to Sign Sweeping Agreement to Get Funding Advantage
The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) | Oct. 2, 2025

FAFSA Forms, Launched Ahead of Shutdown, Could Be in Position for ‘Record High’ Season
The Hill | Oct. 2, 2025

International Students in California Grapple With Fear of Deportation, Visa Applications
EdSource | Oct. 2, 2025

Research, Curriculum and Grading: New Data Sheds Light on How Professors Are Using AI
NPR | Oct. 2, 2025

October 1, 2025

Inside Higher Ed reports on how the government shutdown could impact higher education... A federal judge ruled that the Trump administration violated the First Amendment by using the threat of deportation in an effort to silence noncitizens... Princeton University President Christopher Eisgruber writes in The Atlantic that students genuinely care about free speech and constructive discussion... An appeals court ruled that the Education Department could proceed for now with firing half of its Office for Civil Rights staff as litigation proceeds, Higher Ed Dive reports... Marlene Tromp, the new president of the University of Vermont, said higher education can help address a divisive moment and "make lasting and meaningful change," Vermont Public Radio reports.

What the Government Shutdown Could Mean for Higher Ed
Inside Higher Ed | Oct. 1, 2025

Judge Rules Trump Unlawfully Targeted Noncitizens Over Pro-Palestinian Speech
The New York Times (sub. req.) | Sept. 30, 2025

The Myth of the Campus Snowflake
The Atlantic (sub. req.) | Sept. 30, 2025

Education Department Can Cut Half of OCR Staff for Now, Appeals Court Rules
Higher Ed Dive | Sept. 30, 2025

New UVM President Says Higher Education Can Help Build ‘A New World From Ashes’
Vermont Public Radio | Sept. 30, 2025

September 30, 2025

Politico examines how a government shutdown would disrupt federal education programs, and Inside Higher Ed reports on how a shutdown could impact this week's negotiated rulemaking sessions... Former Republican Senator Roy Blunt argues in the Washington Examiner that the FAIR model would be the best path forward on federal research funding... The New York Times covers how the expanded H-1B visa fees are preventing students around the world from moving to the United States... Colorado universities enrolling the highest percentages of students of color will lose millions of dollars due to the Trump administration's Minority-Serving Institutions funding cuts, Chalkbeat Colorado reports.

Inside the Education Impacts of a Shutdown
Politico | Sept. 29, 2025

What Would a Shutdown Mean for Rule Making?
Inside Higher Ed | Sept. 29, 2025

FAIR Model is America’s Best Path Forward on Research Sunding
Washington Examiner | Sept. 27, 2025

Trump’s $100,000 Visa Upends Lives: ‘My Dreams Were Shattered’
The New York Times (sub. req.) | Sept. 29, 2025

Colorado Colleges Serving Students of Color Will Lose Millions From Trump Cuts
Chalkbeat Colorado | Sept. 26, 2025

September 29, 2025

The White House is considering giving colleges and universities that align with Trump administration viewpoints a competitive advantage in the awarding of research grants, which would mark a considerable change from the long-used merit-based process, The Washington Post reports... Students and alumni are stepping in to replace shuttered DEI programs and events on campuses as colleges face state bans and the Trump administration’s anti-DEI campaign, Inside Higher Ed reports... After slashing the Institute of Education Sciences, the Trump administration is now seeking public feedback on how to reshape the agency, reports The Hechinger Report... Inside Higher Ed looks at the prevalence of H-1B vias in higher education.

White House Considers Funding Advantage for Colleges That Align With Trump Policies
The Washington Post (sub. req.) | Sept. 28, 2025

Students, Alumni Rally to Keep Slashed Affinity Programs Alive
Inside Higher Ed | Sept. 29, 2025

Trump Partially Reverses Course On Education Department Research Cuts
The Hechinger Report | Sept. 29, 2025

Higher Ed’s H-1B Visas in 4 Charts
Inside Higher Ed | Sept. 29, 2025

September 26, 2025

University of Mount Saint Vincent President Susan Burns writes in The Hill that Congress must defend Minority-Serving Institution funding after the Trump administration cut funding earlier this month... Inside Higher Ed previews next week’s negotiated rulemaking session on new loan rules for graduate and professional programs enacted under the Republican's One Big Beautiful Bill... UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk discussed how the institution will defend itself against Trump administration threats, the Los Angeles Times reports... A new report found that HBCUs receive a disproportionately low percentage of federal research and development funding... California colleges and universities are still missing over $5 million worth of humanities grants, leaving campuses scrambling to keep some projects alive, CalMatters reports.

Don’t Defund Minority-Serving Universities
The Hill | Sept. 26, 2025

ED Panel to Weigh Sorting of Grad and Professional Programs
Inside Higher Ed | Sept. 26, 2025

UCLA Chancellor Ready To Stand Firm Against Trump Demands, Unless They’re ‘Valid’
Los Angeles Times (sub. req.) | Sept. 26, 2025

New Report Finds Low Share of R&D Funds Goes to HBCUs
Inside Higher Ed | Sept. 26, 2025

California Colleges Lost Millions in Humanities Purge. Their Projects Might Not Recover
CalMatters | Sept. 25, 2025

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ACE Op-Eds

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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