HEADLINES: Top Higher Education News for the Week

July 29, 2025

The Chronicle of Higher Education explores how data tells the story about the current challenges confronting higher education…The Trump administration is pressuring DACA recipients to self-deport, signaling a harsher enforcement approach even as the program’s legal protections remain officially intact, NPR reports…Three higher education experts share takeaways about the Department of Justice’s letters to the University of Virginia and what they say about the Trump administration’s attacks on higher ed.

A Year of Challenges and Uncertainty, as Told Through Data
The Chronicle of Higher Education (sub. req.) | July 28, 2025

DHS Is Urging DACA Recipients to Self-deport
NPR | July 29, 2025

What DOJ Letters to UVA Say About Trump’s Attack on Higher Ed
Inside Higher Ed | July 29, 2025

July 28, 2025

Interest in reduced-credit bachelor’s degrees among accreditors and institutions has accelerated in recent years, Inside Higher Ed writes... A new study from Brandeis University found that antisemitic beliefs are rare among faculty at U.S. universities... The Washington Post considers Harvard President Alan Garber’s background and career as he defends his university from the Trump administration’s attacks... The federal government will unfreeze billions in funding for after-school and summer learning programs, USA Today reports.

Is the 3-Year Degree Dream Becoming a Reality?
Inside Higher Ed | July 28, 2025

Antisemitic Beliefs Rare Among Faculty, Brandeis University Study Finds
Higher Ed Dive | July 24, 2025

The Quiet Academic Leading Harvard’s Fight Against Trump
The Washington Post (sub. req.) | July 25, 2025

Trump Administration Will Return More Than $5B in Public School Funding It Withheld
USA Today | July 25, 2025

July 25, 2025

The Washington Post, Associated Press, and Wall Street Journal are among the media outlets covering the settlement reached between the federal government and Columbia University… President Trump signed an executive order Thursday that addressed issues in college sports such as NIL and scholarships... HBCUs have seen a swelling number of applicants in recent years, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

White House Touts Deal With Columbia as Critics Decry ‘Chilling’ Precedent
The Washington Post (sub. req.) | July 24, 2025

Trump’s Settlement With Columbia Could Become a Model for His Campaign to Reshape Higher Education
The Associated Press | July 24, 2025

White House Seeks Payments From Other Universities—Including Harvard—After Columbia Deal Sets Precedent
The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) | July 25, 2025

President Trump Takes Aim at College Sports With a New Executive Order
NPR | July 25, 2025

Applications Surge as More Students Strive for Atlanta HBCUs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (sub. req.) | July 25, 2025

July 24, 2025

Columbia will pay a $200 million settlement as part of an agreement with the federal government to restore its research funding, The New York Times writes... The Associated Press covers the transformative effects tuition benefits have for some employees... NPR looks at the many changes to federal student loans in the reconciliation bill... Inside Higher Ed considers the SCORE Act, a bill House Republicans introduced earlier this month to reform college athletics... The Trump administration will investigate five universities for offering scholarships to DACA recipients, The New York Times reports.

Columbia Agrees to $200 Million Fine to Settle Fight With Trump
The New York Times (sub. req.) | July 23, 2025

For Some Employees, Education Benefits Such as Tuition Assistance Prove Life-Changing
The Associated Press | July 24, 2025

What Borrowers Should Know About Student Loan Changes in the One Big Beautiful Bill
NPR | July 24, 2025

How House Republicans Want to Reshape College Athletics
Inside Higher Ed | July 24, 2025

Education Department Will Investigate Scholarships for DACA Students
The New York Times (sub. req.) | July 23, 2025

July 23, 2025

A new analysis found the Trump administration’s grant cancellations are harming red and blue states alike... The reconciliation bill’s new limits on graduate student loans are hampering students’ plans to attend medical school, The Chicago Tribune reports... The Associated Press examines accelerating conservative-led efforts to assert more control over colleges and universities... The New York Times looks at the Trump administration’s widening attacks on college presidents in Virginia.

Federal Grant Cuts Don’t Spare Red States, New Report Shows
Inside Higher Ed | July 23, 2025

Changes to Federal Student Loans Leave Aspiring Medical Students Scrambling to Cover Costs
The Chicago Tribune (sub. req.) | July 23, 2025

Far Beyond Harvard, Conservative Efforts to Reshape Higher Education Are Gaining Steam
The Associated Press | July 23, 2025

In Virginia, the Attack on University Presidents Widens
The New York Times (sub. req.) | July 22, 202

News RoomACE In the News

Explore More

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

Explore More

ACE Op-Eds

Letters to the Editor

Higher Education News Links