HEADLINES: Top Higher Education News for the Week

September 5, 2025

The University of California warned that federal funding cuts present critical risks for the system, and North Dakota's tribal colleges are preparing to face budget challenges under the Trump administration... NPR reports on how the Trump administration is using federal civil rights laws to end targeted support for students of color and protections for transgender students... Aaron Thompson, president of Kentucky's Council on Postsecondary Education, writes in the Courier Journal that the council is implementing initiatives like mental health and basic needs supports to make colleges more student-ready... Texas Tech University System has named state Sen. Brandon Creighton its new chancellor.

UC Warns Trump Funding Cuts Could Impact Entire 10-Campus System: ‘The Risks Are Very Real’
Los Angeles Times (sub. req.) | Sept. 4, 2025

North Dakota Tribal College Presidents Tighten Budgets Amid Federal Funding Worries
The North Dakota Monitor| Sept. 4, 2025

How the Education Department Is Using Civil Rights Laws To Bring Schools to Heel
NPR | Sept. 4, 2025

OPINION: KY Students Work Hard To Get to College. We’re Making Sure We’re Ready for Them.
Courier Journal | Sept. 5, 2025

Texas Tech System Names Sen. Brandon Creighton as Its New Chancellor
Fort Worth Star-Telegram | Sept. 4, 2025

September 4, 2025

A federal judge ruled that the Trump administration violated the Constitution by freezing federal research funding at Harvard... Inside Higher Ed breaks down where things stand on federal funding with a deadline looming at the end of the month... The New York Times reports on efforts by the Justice Department to prevent undocumented students from receiving in-state tuition... Lipscomb University President Candice McQueen writes in an op-ed that colleges can ensure education translates into opportunity by embracing flexibility and career-focused credentials.

Judge Rules Trump Administration Cannot Withhold Funding From Harvard
The Washington Post (sub. req.) | Sept. 4, 2025

House Appropriators Protect Pell While Cutting Other Federal Grants
Inside Higher Ed | Sept. 4, 2025

Trump Administration Targets Financial Relief for Undocumented Students
The New York Times (sub. req.) | Sept. 4, 2025

OPINION: Job Credentials Are on the Rise. Here’s What It Means for Students and Higher Ed
The Tennessean | Sept. 4, 2025

September 3, 2025

House Republicans proposed a 15 percent cut to the Department of Education’s budget for the 2026 fiscal year, Higher Ed Dive reports... Tens of thousands of college students without legal status are losing access to in-state tuition, causing some to drop out altogether, the Associated Press reports...  The Department of Education said it will launch the 2026-2027 FAFSA on Oct. 1… A new report found that there is a lack of data on students in prison education programs.

GOP-Led House Panel Proposes 15% Cut to Education Department
Higher Ed Dive | Sept. 2, 2025

Students Without Legal Status Drop Out as States Roll Back In-State Tuition Benefits
Associated Press | Sept. 3, 2025

Education Department Promises On-Time FAFSA Launch After Years of Delays
Diverse: Issues in Higher Education | Sept. 2, 2025

A Dearth of Data on Incarcerated Students
Inside Higher Ed | Sept. 3, 2025

September 2, 2025

The Education Department has cut off child care funding at more than a dozen colleges, The Washington Post reports... The Associated Press reports that the decline in international student enrollment is harming colleges and universities... Inside Higher Ed spoke with some of the thousands of students who no longer can attend college in the United States due to Trump's travel ban... Colorado College Manya Whitaker is beginning her tenure with a focus on strengthening the college's role in higher education, reports The Gazette.

Trump Administration Cuts Grants for Child Care on College Campuses
The Washington Post (sub. req.) | Aug. 29, 2025

Colleges Face Financial Struggles as Trump Policies Send International Enrollment Plummeting
Associated Press | Aug. 30, 2025

The Students Left Behind by the Travel Ban
Inside Higher Ed | Sept. 2, 2025

New Colorado College President Looks To Affirm School’s Place in Higher Ed
The Gazette | Aug. 31, 2025

August 28, 2025

Colleges and universities are seeing a significant drop in international students as the fall semester beings, reports NPR . . . Inside Higher Ed breaks down the Trump administration’s unprecedented move to target select universities with funding cuts . . . Higher Ed Dive looks at six higher education trends to watch for in the 2025-26 academic year . . . Many financial aid advisers are worried that the Trump administration’s latest effort to bolster identity verification in the student aid system could have unintended consequences, according to Inside Higher Ed.

Colleges See Significant Drop in International Students as Fall Semester Begins 
NPR | August 27, 2025

5 Charts Breaking Down Trump’s Funding Freezes Against Universities
Inside Higher Ed | August 28, 2025

6 Higher Education Trends to Watch for in the 2025-26 Academic Year
Higher Ed Dive | August 28. 2025

Financial Aid Advisers Raise Questions About Trump’s Identity Verification Efforts 
Inside Higher Ed | August 28, 2025


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