Cornell inks $60M deal with Trump administration to restore funding
Nov 7, 2025 - The agreement, which ends multiple federal investigations into the university, also requires it to report extensive undergraduate admissions data quarterly.
Higher Ed Policy and Budget Announcements
Graduate Programs Will Soon Feel the Brunt of Loan Caps as Changes to Federal Aid Advance
Nov 6, 2025 - If fewer students can afford to enroll, higher-ed advocates say, colleges may struggle to sustain many of their master’s and professional degrees.
More students are double-majoring out of fear they won’t be able to get jobs
Nov 5, 2025 - Nationwide, ~12% of graduates earned more than one credential in the 2023–2024 school year, compared to just 6% a decade earlier.
Some public universities report fewer international students amid Trump restrictions
Nov 5, 2025 - Coming to the United States to study has become more difficult. President Donald Trump is taking a harder line on international students, arguing that they are taking university spots or jobs from American students.
Amid budget cuts, Michigan State University colleges pausing graduate program admissions
Nov 4, 2025 - The halted enrollment adds to a growing list of tangible effects being felt on campus from the university’s mission to reduce its operating budget by 9% over the next two fiscal years.
CRA Joins Amicus Brief in Support of International Students
Nov 4, 2025 - CRA joins an amicus legal brief in support of international students impacted by the immigration actions of the Trump Administration and DHS.
Penn State president says university would not join Trump’s higher education compact
Nov 3, 2025 - Neeli Bendapudi addressed the topic during the “State of State” town hall last week.
Are Trump’s Settlements Losing Steam?
Nov 3, 2025 - The Trump administration forced significant changes and a fine at Columbia but won limited concessions from Virginia and remains in legal battles with Harvard and UCLA.
Week in review: 2 colleges volunteer for Trump’s compact
Nov 3, 2025 - Sweeping layoffs at a well-known ed tech company to the sector's fight against the $100K H-1B fee.
‘End of an era’: Experts warn research executive order could stifle scientific innovation
Nov 3, 2025 - The directive gives President Donald Trump’s political appointees oversight of grant awards to align them with the administration’s priorities.
Auburn University requires faculty to review courses to comply with anti-DEI law
Nov 1, 2025 - Auburn's provost office posted a web site on how to comply with state and federal DEI mandates on Oct. 31.
Xavier University lays off 46 staff amid financial pressures
Oct 30, 2025 - Despite other reports, the university does not anticipate additional layoffs in the near future.
Emails show UW-Madison to lay off 31 employees, among other cuts
Oct 29, 2025 - Campus leaders’ emails reveal how the university is making budget cuts amid the Trump administration’s ‘disinvestment’ from higher education.
Trump’s DEI Crackdown Closes 120 TRIO Programs
Oct 27, 2025 - Multiple programs had their grants terminated for saying they hoped to enroll roughly equal numbers of male and female students, leaving high schoolers without college-access resources at the start of the admissions cycle.
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.
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.
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.
Analysis: Idaho higher ed has more students — but fewer state dollars to support them
Oct 23, 2025 - Enrollment is rising and robust on Idaho’s four-year campuses. That’s good news. But it also poses problems, as colleges and universities weather Idaho’s self-inflicted budget crunch.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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."
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.