HEADLINES: Top Higher Education News for the Week

August 15, 2025

A federal judge has struck down the two Trump administration actions aimed at eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion programs at the nation’s schools and universities, The Associated Press reports... Inside Higher Ed reports that scientists say the government’s decision to stop investing in mRNA vaccine research is another sign of the growing politicization of research, which will stymie the country’s medical breakthroughs... The Chronicle of Higher Education looks at how the administration’s immigration crackdown is affecting higher education... As the Trump administration has publicly targeted elite universities, it has also quietly pursued funding cuts for the nation’s tribal colleges, which rely on federal dollars to operate, writes The New York Times.

Judge Strikes Down Trump Administration Guidance Against DEI Programs at Schools
The Associated Press | Aug. 14, 2025

Scientists: mRNA Vaccine Research Cuts Undermine U.S. Innovation
Inside Higher Ed | Aug. 15, 2025

How President Trump’s Immigration Crackdown Is Affecting Higher Ed
The Chronicle of Higher Education (sub. req.) | Aug. 14, 2025

Tribal Colleges Rely on Federal Funding. Their Leaders Fear the Trump Years.
The New York Times (sub. req.) | Aug. 15, 2025

August 14, 2025

The Department of Education has provided more information about what race-based data must be reported under President Trump’s recently issued order, Inside Higher Ed reports... New studies issued this week found that the University System of Georgia generated $23.1 billion in economic impact last year, while recent graduates stand to earn $1.4 million more over their lifetimes thanks to their college degrees... The Trump administration has abandoned research into health disparities, according to The New York Times... Inside Higher Ed looks at how the administration is chipping away and protections for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program participants and other undocumented immigrants.

ED Clarifies What Race-Based Admissions Data Must Be Reported
Inside Higher Ed | August 14, 2025

Study: Georgia’s Universities Made a $23 Billion Impact on the State Economy Last Fiscal Year
Athens Banner-Herald | August 13, 2025

Trump Administration Scraps Research Into Health Disparities
The New York Times (sub. req.) | August 13, 2025

Trump Administration ‘Chipping Away’ at Undocumented Student Protections
Inside Higher Ed | August 14, 2025

August 13, 2025

Inside Higher Ed writes that researchers believe President Trump’s executive order for political appointees to review grants puts politics above peer review... The New York Times reports that a federal judge in California ordered the National Science Foundation to reinstate millions of dollars in grants awarded to the University of California, Los Angeles... EdSource explores how some court decisions have blocked part of the Trump administration’s higher education agenda.

Trump Order on Grants Puts Politics Above Peer Review, Researchers Say
Inside Higher Ed | August 13, 2025

Trump Administration Violated Order on U.C.L.A. Grant Terminations, Judge Says
The New York Times (sub. req.) | August 12, 2025

Analysis: Courts Block Some of Trump Administration’s Higher Ed Agenda
EdSource | August 12, 2025

August 12, 2025

Inside Higher Ed looks at the outcomes and potential path forward of legal challenges to the Trump administration’s attacks on higher education... The Hechinger Report assesses the ramifications for student veterans of cuts to the departments of Veterans Affairs and Education... The New York Times explores the financial difficulties facing a number of colleges and universities, which the paper reports are fueled only in part by Trump administration policies.

After Months of Lawsuits, Courts Stymie Some of Trump’s Higher Ed Agenda
Inside Higher Ed | August 12, 2025

‘Complete Nightmare’: Student Veterans, Advisers Say VA Cuts Are Derailing Their Educations
The Hechinger Report | August 12, 2025

How College Financial Troubles Could Reshape the Student Experience
The New York Times (sub. req.) | August 12, 2025

August 11, 2025

ACE President Ted Mitchell notes that UCLA is in “uncharted territory” as part of an Los Angeles Times story exploring the Trump administration's attacks on the public university and demands for a $1 billion settlement... Inside Higher Ed looks at how the Trump administration is scrutinizing the use of geography in admissions... Michael T. Benson, the new president of West Virginia University, tells the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he is optimistic for the future of the state’s flagship university.

‘Uncharted Territory’: Newsom and UC Go to Battle Against Trump’s UCLA Sanctions
Los Angeles Times (sub. req.) | August 11, 2025

How Colleges Use Geography to Recruit Students
Inside Higher Ed | August 11, 2025

New WVU President Michael T. Benson Sees ‘Blue Sky’ Ahead for University
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | August 9, 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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