HEADLINES: Top Higher Education News for the Week

September 17, 2025

A coalition of labor and advocacy groups sued to challenge the Trump administration's freeze on federal research funding at University of California institutions... Barnard College President Laura Ann Rosenbury writes in The New York Times that colleges help students respectfully engage with a wide spectrum of views... The United States will need more than 5 million additional workers who have at least some postsecondary education by 2032 to address critical skills shortages, according to a new report... Elon University and Queens University of Charlotte announced plans to merge... Hispanic-Serving Institutions in Wisconsin are vowing to keep supporting Hispanic students in the face of millions of dollars in cuts to federal funding, reports Wisconsin Watch.

Groups Sue Administration Over Funding Freeze at University of California
The Washington Post (sub. req.) | Sept. 17, 2025

Barnard President: Now Is the Time for Colleges to Host Difficult Speakers
The New York Times (sub. req.) | Sept. 17, 2025

U.S. Faces Shortfall of 5.3m College-Educated Workers by 2032
Higher Ed Dive | Sept. 16, 2025

Elon University, Queens University of Charlotte Announce Merger Plans
NC Newsline | Sept. 16, 2025

Wisconsin Colleges Vow To Keep Supporting Hispanic Students Despite Federal Funding Cuts
Wisconsin Watch | Sept. 16, 2025

September 16, 2025

Inside Higher Ed covers an ACE survey of college presidents finding that most are worried about federal policies, and the publication also releases its own annual survey of provosts finding that they are focused on funding cuts, academic freedom and AI... A piece in the Deseret News by ACE President Ted Mitchell and Derrick Anderson notes that while American higher education has always faced deep scrutiny, often during times of national unrest, it has always responded best by reforming, not retreating... Nearly three-quarters of California public high school seniors applied for federal financial aid this year, soaring past last year’s figures by 11 percent and giving further indication that California’s efforts to get more students to apply for federal grants are paying off, reports CalMatters.

Survey: Most College Presidents Worried About New Federal Policies
Inside Higher Ed | Sept. 16, 2025

Survey: Provosts Focused on Funding Cuts, Academic Freedom and AI
Inside Higher Ed | Sept. 16, 2025

Higher Education’s Enduring Strength Is Its Willingness To Change
Desert News | Aug. 30, 2025

More California High School Seniors Applied for College Financial Aid This Year Than Last
CalMatters | Sept. 15, 2025

September 15, 2025

The Trump administration has withheld about $660 million from thousands of programs that help low-income and first-generation students access college, Inside Higher Ed reports... The Trump administration is systematically dismantling America’s cancer research system, which has helped save millions of lives, The New York Times reports... The Trump administration is redirecting nearly $500 million to HBCUs... Thousands of international students are being prevented from coming to U.S. campuses due to the Trump administration’s travel bans, the Associated Press reports... The Indiana Capital Chronicle covers the impact $25 million in funding cuts is having on institutions in the state.

Trump Administration Withholds $660M for College Access Programs
Inside Higher Ed | Sept. 15, 2025

Trump Is Shutting Down the War On Cancer
The New York Times (sub. req.) | Sept. 14, 2025

Trump Redirects Millions to Historically Black Colleges, Charter Schools
The New York Times(sub. req.)| Sept. 15, 2025

Trump’s Travel Ban Keeps International Students From Coming to the US for College
Associated Press | Sept. 14, 2025

Canceled Federal Grants Cost Indiana Institutions Millions in Disrupted Projects
Indiana Capital Journal | Sept. 15, 2025

September 12, 2025

At least seven HBCUs went into lockdown yesterday in response to threats, Inside Higher Ed reports... College leaders are thinking through security procedures on their campuses following the assassination of Charlie Kirk, NPR Reports... A federal judge declined to restore more than $1 billion in research grants cut by the NSF while a lawsuit against the agency moves forward, Higher Ed Dive reports... EdSource reports on how the Trump administration's cuts to MSI funding will cause “irreparable harm” to California institutions...The Government Accountability Office warned that technical issues at the Education Department could lead to issues for the FAFSA in the coming years.

Historically Black Colleges Issue Lockdown Orders, Cancel Classes After Receiving Threats
Associated Press | Sept. 11, 2025

Charlie Kirk’s Killing Raises the Stakes for Campus Security
NPR | Sept. 11, 2025

Federal Judge Declines To Restore $1B in Grants Cut by NSF
Higher Ed Dive | Sept. 11, 2025

Trump Administration To End Grant Funding for Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Affecting Many California Colleges
EdSource | Sept. 11, 2025

GAO Raises Concern About Future FAFSAs
Inside Higher Ed | Sept. 12, 2025

September 11, 2025

The Trump administration announced that it will withhold $350 million in grants to hundreds of colleges that serve large populations of minority students... Institutions are racing to preserve clean energy projects as looming deadlines in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act threaten their federal support, reports The Hechinger Report... Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the federal government should get half the dollars generated from patents that universities and their researchers develop with federal funding... Some college towns will lose thousands of jobs if the NIH implements President Trump’s drastic proposed budget cuts, according to a new report... The Trump administration's efforts to curb federal spending have already cost North Dakota's universities—and the state—millions in research funding, and more cuts are anticipated, the North Dakota Monitor reports.

Education Department Ends Some Aid Aimed at Minority College Students
The Washington Post | Sept. 10, 2025

Students, Schools Race To Save Clean Energy Projects in Face of Trump Deadline
The Hechinger Report | Sept. 11, 2025

Commerce Secretary Says He Wants Half of University Patent Money
Inside Higher Ed | Sept. 11, 2025

NIH Cuts Mean Job Losses in College Towns
Inside Higher Ed | Sept. 11, 2025

North Dakota University Research Could See ‘Devastating’ Cuts, Officials Warn
North Dakota Monitor | Sept. 10, 2025

News RoomACE In the News

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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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ACE Op-Eds

Letters to the Editor

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