News
Entertainment
Science & Technology
Life
Culture & Art
Hobbies
News
Entertainment
Science & Technology
Culture & Art
Hobbies
- home
›- Inside Higher Ed | Higher Education Blog
›- Education & Personal Development
Inside Higher Ed | Higher Education Blog - Education & Personal Development
10 | Follower
DEI retrenchment on campuses is far worse than maps show
They don’t capture local-level and self-imposed efforts to defund, eliminate or otherwise suppress diversity and inclusion efforts. I have displayed two data maps in most of my keynotes and professional learning sessions over the past 18 months. One is from Education Week, and it shows states in which bills aiming to ban critical race theory and other topics related to diversity, equity and inclusion in K-12 schools have either been introduced or passed.
Indiana higher ed commission recommends financial aid cuts
Two years after boosting financial aid for low-income students, the state of Indiana plans to slash those awards again. It’s the latest instance of state officials grappling with changes to the FAFSA. More Indiana students qualified for state financial aid this year after changes to the federal formula that determines aid eligibility, forcing the state’s Commission for Higher Education to dip into its reserves to cover the unexpected increase.
Postelection uncertainty looms large for presidents
At a media dinner in New York Monday, nearly a dozen college presidents fielded questions on a range of topics, but none dominated the discussion more than Trump. NEW YORK—With Donald Trump set to re-enter the White House in two months, many higher education professionals have more questions than answers about what his education priorities will be, a sense reflected in the palpable uncertainty among the nearly dozen college presidents who convened in Manhattan Monday evening.
The 2025–26 FAFSA is now broadly available. Is it ready?
The federal aid form could officially launch this week. Hopes for a smooth financial aid cycle, and the Education Department’s chance at redemption, are on the line. This year’s Free Application for Federal Student Aid is now widely available to students and is set to launch officially any day now—Education Department officials said in a press call last week that they expect it will be live by Friday.
Four ways to connect first-gen students and faculty
Many first-generation students can feel alone in higher education. Colleges raise up role models in their first-generation faculty and staff who have been in students’ shoes. Over half of undergraduates nationally are first-generation college students, according to 2015–16 data from NASPA.
Winds of change in higher ed to become a hurricane in 2025
A number of factors are converging to create a huge storm. Generative AI advances, massive federal policy shifts, broad societal and economic changes, and the demographic cliff combine to create uncertainty today and change tomorrow. What are the changes we can predict today, and how can we best prepare to respond and adapt to these sweeping changes?
Bard College at Simon's Rock campus closing
Bard College at Simon’s Rock is shutting down its campus in Great Barrington, Mass., and moving the academic programs to a location near the institution’s main site in New York. Administrators cited enrollment challenges at the Bard College at Simon’s Rock campus, which admits students after the 10th or 11th grade and allows them to begin college classes early.
Q&A with AVP of student success at Columbus State University
As the inaugural assistant vice president for student success, Young is charged with implementing campuswide changes to improve the student experience and, in turn, impact retention rates. Like many in higher education, Melissa Young was a student who went to college and then never left. Young completed her associate, bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Hawai’i at Chaminade University of Honolulu while her husband was stationed in the area, working for the institution full-time as well.
BU suspends admissions to humanities, other Ph.D. programs
The university didn’t announce its decision in a news release and hasn’t fully explained it, but two deans blamed a new grad workers’ union contract for the cutbacks to a dozen programs including English, history and sociology. On Reddit late last week, a prospective Boston University philosophy Ph.D. student posted a screenshot of an email and expressed confusion.
Providing students with alcohol education and support
Around one in five college students engages in binge drinking, according to national data. Universities can provide individual and environmental-level interventions to reduce alcohol-related problems. During the 2022–23 academic year, the most popular drinking trend on college campuses was borgs, or blackout rage gallons, as they were nicknamed by students. The recipe included around 25 ounces of alcohol, mixed with about half a gallon of water and some kind of flavor packet to sweeten the taste, making it a portable way to consume large amounts of alcohol.
Changing podcast landscape offers scholars a platform
As the commercial podcast bubble begins to burst, enduring demand for audio opens unique opportunities for academics. Recently, I was listening to an episode of the Culture Study podcast titled “Is the Golden Age of Podcasts Over?” In this episode, the host and guest spoke poignantly and rightly about the idea that podcasting as we know it—driven by advertising dollars and monetization models—might be past its peak.
Five questions for Vassar College president Elizabeth Bradley
Elizabeth H. Bradley discusses Vassar’s new campus institute, the state of the liberal arts, the outlook for a second Trump term and what gives her hope. Last month Vassar College doubled down on its liberal arts bona fides, opening a new institute to serve as a hub for policy and debate with the goal of making discussions about such issues more accessible. The Institute for the Liberal Arts, which sits on the edge of Vassar’s campus and includes a hotel and restaurant, is intended to engage the public at a time when skepticism abounds about the liberal arts and higher education.
Digital badges for HBCU students improve career prospects
To reduce equity gaps, nonprofit groups are investing in resources that help learners at historically Black institutions plan for after graduation and earn digital credentials. Historically Black colleges and universities are known for serving a significant share of Black students in the U.S. and providing a more positive learning environment for these students, but historic underfunding of HBCUs continues to impact student success after graduation.
How Trump could impact science policy in a second term
No one knows exactly how President-elect Trump’s second term will shape science and research policy, but judging from his first four years, he will likely focus on budget cuts and research security. President-elect Donald Trump will once again have the chance to leave his mark on this country’s scientific research enterprise.
Two institutions receive gifts worth tens of millions
Georgia State University has received an $80 million gift from the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation, which will go toward a major revitalization campaign for the downtown Atlanta campus. It is the largest gift the 111-year-old institution has ever received, and the largest the foundation—named for a former president of Coca-Cola who became a leading philanthropist in Atlanta—has ever given to any University System of Georgia campus.
Religious colleges that lean into their identity make gains
Stricter Christian colleges seem to be experiencing enrollment increases as religious families become more wary of secular institutions. Franciscan University of Steubenville just opened a new, 111,000-square-foot academic building and is in the process of expanding its Christ the King Chapel by 175 seats. The Catholic institution in Ohio needs more space after enrollment rose 6 percent this year to 3,972 students, from 3,750 last year. Over the last decade, enrollment has grown a whopping 46 percent.
As Trump threatens deportations, colleges tread carefully
Colleges are considering what supports they can offer undocumented students. Some leaders feel constrained in what they can publicly say or legally promise. The president of Wesleyan University wasted no time addressing his students’ concerns about the election results after Donald Trump’s victory on Nov. 5. Michael Roth put out a statement the next day reflecting on the four years ahead—and highlighting how the university might respond to the potential deportations of undocumented students. He was ready; like other longtime higher ed leaders, he’d been there before.
Trump administration considers NIH critic as agency's leader
The incoming Trump administration is considering appointing Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, a vocal critic of COVID-19 restrictions who has accused the National Institutes of Health of holding too much power, to a major public health role in the government, The Washington Post reported.
International student trends shift to South Asia, Africa
India overtook China as the top source of foreign students in the U.S. last year, marking a boom in interest from the Global South and a shift to graduate programs. International student enrollment grew by 6.6 percent in the 2023–24 academic year, surpassing pre-pandemic levels for the first time, according to a new Open Doors report from the Institute for International Education. Mirka Martel, IIE’s head of research, said on a press call last Wednesday that the 1,126,690 international students in the U.S. last year were the most since IIE began keeping track.
Federal judge strikes down Biden overtime expansion
The order means that tens of thousands of college and university staffers are no longer guaranteed either a raise or overtime benefits. A federal judge in Texas has struck down a Biden administration rule that would have expanded overtime eligibility for about four million salaried workers, including thousands of employees at colleges and universities.
What is behind FIRE’s attacks on AAUP? (opinion)
FIRE is no defender of academic freedom, Joan W. Scott writes. The vice president of campus advocacy of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, Alex Morey, has recently launched an unprecedented attack on the American Association of University Professors. She was quoted in Inside Higher Ed on Nov. 8 effectively offering an obituary for the organization in response to AAUP president Todd Wolfson’s expression of “disappointment” at the election of Donald Trump: “Faculty who’ve long relied on the AAUP for
2025–26 FAFSA will launch ahead of schedule
The 2025–26 Free Application for Federal Student Aid is on track to launch ahead of its Dec. 1 deadline, Education Department officials announced on a press call Thursday afternoon, likely around Nov. 22—though the officials said they couldn’t confirm an exact date.
American U's new president answers five questions
On World Kindness Day, Jon Alger came by our office to chat about unity dinners, civil discourse and what to expect from Trump redux. Jonathan Alger became American University’s 16th president on July 1, following 12 years at the helm of James Madison University in Virginia. A lawyer by training, he previously served as senior vice president and general counsel at Rutgers University and assistant general counsel at the University of Michigan. He has written and spoken extensively on higher education policy and legal issues surrounding diversity and free speech, among other things.
What Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Has Said About the NIH
Trump’s pick for Health and Human Services secretary aims to disrupt the National Institutes of Health, the country's top funder of academic research. Doctors and public health officials have condemned the choice. President-elect Trump’s decision to nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a divisive skeptic of vaccines and purveyor of misinformation, to lead the sprawling Department of Health and Human Services has raised alarm among academics.
Visa clampdowns put brakes on international student mobility
Global survey finds that 41 percent of institutions reported fewer international postgraduate students in this year’s intake compared to 2023. Clampdowns on international student visas across some of the biggest higher education markets are having a clear impact on recruitment, according to a new report.
Institutional neutrality isn't what I thought it was
As always, these things are complicated. Don’t trust anyone who says otherwise. I should disclose what some folks call one’s “priors” when it comes to the notion of institutional neutrality as applied to our colleges and universities. I don’t get it. I mean, I get it. I understand what people mean when they invoke the term, but I don’t know how it’s workable in today’s world. Higher education institutions are built upon a foundation of actual values, values that are meant to be instantiated by the work of the institution itself.
Trump likely to end Title IX protections for trans students
In recent years, each new administration has led to significant changes in the rules governing how colleges respond to sexual misconduct. Don’t expect that to change under a second Trump term. Here’s what to know about Trump and Title IX. Just three months before the presidential election, President Biden’s overhaul of the gender equity law known as Title IX went into effect, expanding protections for transgender students and changing how colleges respond to reports of sexual misconduct.
Oregon State University graduate student workers strike
Oregon State University graduate student workers went on strike this week to push for raises and to keep shorter union contracts. Their union president says the institution continues to refuse demands for raises while also pushing for a longer contract—something that would lock in the university’s lower offers for longer.
ABA will allow law schools to bypass testing requirement
The American Bar Association is creating a pathway for law schools to request an exemption from the organization’s standardized testing requirement. The law school accreditor’s Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admission to the Bar voted to create a “variance” allowing individual law schools to apply for permission to bypass its current LSAT or GRE admissions requirement. If the application is accepted, that waiver would be valid for three to five years before the school would be required to reapply.
Report offers playbook for higher ed's role in democracy
Complete College America argues that for higher education, protecting democracy is tied to making colleges accessible and boosting completion. Amid a tense and polarized election cycle, conversations about higher education’s role in democracy have been bubbling, spurring a renewed focus on civic engagement and constructive discourse.