Columbia University’s operating income plunges by nearly two-thirds
Oct 24, 2025 - Costs at the Ivy League institution rose far faster than revenue, and "destabilizing" federal research cuts added pressure to its budget.
Higher Ed Policy and Budget Announcements
70% of Americans say feds shouldn’t control admissions, curriculum
Oct 24, 2025 - The Public Religion Research Institute poll comes as the Trump administration is pressuring colleges to change their policies.
Chancellor Martin confirms WashU will not sign Trump’s proposed higher education compact
Oct 22, 2025 - In an email sent to faculty midday Wednesday, Martin wrote that WashU will not sign the compact “or any document that undermines our mission or our core values, perhaps highest among these our commitment to academic freedom, access, free expression, and research integrity.”
Michigan State University lays off 99 employees
Oct 23, 2025 - Along with budget pressures from rising costs, the university has faced dozens of federal grant terminations, leading to another 83 job cuts.
University of Virginia strikes deal to pause Trump administration investigations
Oct 22, 2025 - The U.S. Justice Department has announced an agreement with the University of Virginia to pause civil rights investigations.
University of Northern Colorado plans to lay off 50 employees
Oct 23, 2025 - State budget cuts and a smaller-than-expected fall class contributed to millions of dollars of pressure on the public institution’s budget.
Former Climate.gov team building Climate.us—a new bridge between scientists and the public
Oct 21, 2025 - Rebecca Lindsey shares their team's plans for Climate.us, especially their rescue of the Fifth National Climate Assessment.
From facing federal scrutiny to being a ‘good actor’: U.Va. and the Trump administration
Oct 20, 2025 - Although the University ultimately chose not to sign an agreement from the Trump administration, Interim University President Paul Mahoney left open the possibility of future collaboration and alternative approaches in his letter to the Education Department.
7 of Duke’s peer institutions decline Trump’s preferential funding compact
Oct 20, 2025 - Signing onto the compact would entail accepting the administration’s positions on topical issues such as admissions, freedom of speech, foreign visas, women’s sports and college affordability.
Northeastern researchers wrestle with ‘demoralizing’ grant cuts
Oct 15, 2025 - Katherine Trice's National Institutes of Health’s F31 diversity fellowship supplied a necessary equipment boost for her thesis work.
Harvard FAS Cuts Ph.D. Seats By More Than Half Across Next Two Admissions Cycles
Oct 21, 2025 - The Faculty of Arts and Sciences slashed the number of Ph.D. student admissions slots for the Science division by more than 75 percent and for the Arts & Humanities division by about 60 percent for the next two years.
Princeton's Eisgruber calls Trump administration compact ‘a dangerous step in the wrong direction’
Oct 20, 2025 - The “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” lays out a comprehensive vision for the Trump administration’s educational priorities, and follows months of sustained pressure on Princeton and other elite institutions.
Under political pressure, colleges try to recruit more rural students
Oct 20, 2025 - Facing calls to diversify viewpoints and cap international enrollment, elite schools are turning to a group often overlooked in admissions: students from small-town America.
Arizona colleges face ‘devastating impact’ after Trump slashes grant funds to minority-serving institutions
Oct 20, 2025 - Ten community colleges and universities in Arizona will lose at least $13.8 million after President Donald Trump's administration cut discretionary funding to minority-serving institutions.
Harvard’s operations lost $112.6M in FY25 amid Trump’s pressure campaign
Oct 17, 2025 - President Alan Garber called fiscal 2025 extraordinarily challenging for the Ivy League university "even by the standards of our centuries-long history."
Modernizing Academic Reward Systems for an Open and Engaged Future
Oct 15, 2025 - The initiative poses an important question: how can academic institutions align their systems for hiring, review, promotion, and tenure with the values expressed in their mission and vision statements?
Brown PhD admissions paused in at least six humanities, social science departments
Oct 15, 2025 - Faculty and graduate students expressed disappointment and frustration at the decision.
University of Pennsylvania rejects Trump’s higher education compact
Oct 16, 2025 - The Ivy League institution became the third college to decline the offer of priority for federal research funding in exchange for sweeping policy changes.
Canceled $28B grants during government shutdown
Oct 15, 2025 - The Trump administration has cancelled and paused billions in grants during the shutdown.
Brown University rejects Trump’s higher education compact
Oct 15, 2025 - The Ivy League institution became the second prominent college, after MIT, to reject the deal over concerns about freedom and independence.
Community colleges are losing millions in funding under Trump
Oct 14, 2024 - Public community colleges are losing millions in federal funding as the Trump administration redirects money to support the president’s priorities.
Under pressure from right-wing groups, NC public universities disagree on whether a syllabus is a public record
Oct 9, 2025 - Right-wing groups are increasingly requesting copies of syllabi and course materials to assess what's being taught in college classrooms. That means universities like UNC-Chapel Hill and UNC Greensboro are having to decide what to turn over, and what faculty can still control.
MIT becomes first college to reject Trump’s higher education compact
Oct 10, 2025 - University President Sally Kornbluth said some of the terms would restrict the institution’s free expression and independence.
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Some Texas community colleges remove course materials amid broader pu…
Oct 9, 2025 - At least two community colleges, Alvin and Blinn, are also considering what they can and can’t teach to high schoolers enrolled in their fast-growing dual credit courses.
Carnegie Mellon lays off 75 employees at engineering institute amid federal funding shifts
Oct 10, 2025 - The cuts amount to 10% of the Software Engineering Institute’s workforce, which has taken a financial hit from recent policy changes.
Trump’s higher ed compact draws condemnation from faculty and college unions
Oct 8, 2025 - At least two faculty senates have voted to oppose the proposed agreement sent to nine research universities, while other workers have publicly rebuked it.
Higher ed groups sue over Trump administration’s $100K H-1B visa fee
Oct 6, 2025 - The surprise policy rolled out last month could cause “catastrophic setbacks” to research in the U.S., the lawsuit alleges.
Small US college towns reel amid Trump immigration crackdown: ‘They need international students’
Oct 4, 2025 - From Ohio to Florida, the US government’s clampdown on students from abroad threatens rural universities and local businesses
Top US researchers rush to relocate to Europe
Sep 29, 2025 - U.S.-based applicants to a prestigious EU research scheme have increased five-fold.
What California’s landmark AI law means for US tech regulation
Oct 2, 2025 - Safety advocates say it’s a step in the right direction.