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Florida A&M Hires DeSantis Ally as President
The HBCU in Tallahassee hired a president who has never worked in higher ed but has ties to Republican governor Ron DeSantis. Her critics have dubbed her “MAGA Marva.” Following a contentious selection process, Florida A&M University hired a new president with no experience working in higher education but long-standing ties to Republican governor Ron DeSantis. Marva Johnson, a lobbyist for Charter Communications, faced sharp opposition from students and alumni, who dubbed her “MAGA Marva.” But despite questions about her lack of experience, Florida A&M’s board voted 8 to 4 in a Friday meeting to make her the next president.
U.S. Universities Eye Branch Campuses as Way to “Survive Trump”
Renewed interest in expanding abroad could prove lucrative but is not immune to scrutiny from the White House, scholars say. Establishing branch campuses abroad—often used as a crisis mitigation strategy—could become more important for U.S. universities facing increasing threats at home, but scholars are divided on their likelihood of success.
Misinformation Course Teaches Ethics for Engineering Students
An interdisciplinary course at the University of Southern California teaches engineering students research skills and information literacy. Nearly three in four college students say they have somewhat high or very high media literacy skills (72 percent), according to a 2025 Student Voice survey by Inside Higher Ed and Generation Lab. Students are less likely to consider their peers media literate; three in five respondents said they have at least somewhat high levels of concern about the spread of misinformation among their classmates.
ICE Warns International Students of More SEVIS Terminations
Immigration officials sent letters to recent international graduates on short-term work visas giving them 15 days to report employment or face removal from the country. Immigration officials sent letters to international students on short-term work visas Thursday night, threatening to terminate their legal status in the Student Exchange and Visitor Information System and remove them from the country. The number of affected students is still unknown, but Inside Higher Ed can confirm at least 35.
A New Project to Preserve HBCU History
A new partnership between Getty Images and the genealogy website Ancestry aims to save the records and photographs of historically Black colleges and universities. A group of Claflin University students were perusing old campus photos when one image caught a student’s eye—it was a picture of his grandmother from her college days. He knew they attended the same historically Black university in South Carolina, but he had never seen a picture of her in her younger years.
Detained Georgetown Professor Released From ICE Custody
Badar Khan Suri, a postdoctoral fellow and professor at Georgetown University, was released from a federal detention center in Texas on Wednesday after being held for two months. Suri, an Indian national, was arrested in March under government claims that he was a threat to U.S. interests and had close connections to a known or suspected terrorist. This week a federal judge in Virginia ordered Suri’s immediate release due to a lack of evidence to support such claims.
McMahon Sharpens Tone on Accreditation
Education Secretary Linda McMahon argued this week that accreditors wield too much power. But some statements raise questions about her understanding of accreditation. Education Secretary Linda McMahon has made clear in recent public statements that the current system of college accreditation needs to change.
Waivers Let Some N.C. Majors Keep “DEI” Requirements
Some public universities nixed certain gen ed mandates in response to a statewide order. But through exemptions, multiple degree programs can continue mandating courses that relate to diversity, equity and inclusion. Shortly after the second Trump administration began attacking higher education diversity initiatives, the University of North Carolina system ordered its 16 public universities to immediately stop requiring “course credits related to diversity, equity and inclusion.” The system was targeting DEI even before Trump retook office—the UNC Board of Governors repealed the system’s DEI policy a year ago—and its general counsel pointed to the federal government
Wikipedia Is Giving Academic Resources New Life Online
CUNY is working with Wikipedia to feed the information ecosystem more accessible, deeply researched articles on a variety of topics—including some fading from public memory. Until this spring, the story of how New York City launched the first “travel training” program for people with disabilities in the 1970s was nowhere to be found on Wikipedia, the world’s largest free online encyclopedia.
Bastyr University Plans to Sell Campus
Cash-strapped Bastyr University is selling its campus in Washington State in an effort to stabilize its shaky finances, which landed the institution on show cause status with its accreditor earlier this year. Bastyr’s Board of Trustees approved a plan last week to list the campus for sale.
50-Plus Groups Protest Trump's Attack on Higher Ed
Dozens of higher education associations publicly called on President Donald Trump to restore the “historic compact” between American universities and the federal government—the latest sign of growing public opposition to the GOP’s attack on higher ed.
Harvard Pledges $250M to Support Research Amid Freeze
Facing a $2.7 billion federal funding freeze, Harvard University said Wednesday that it will use $250 million of its own funds to support research affected by the cut. “Although we cannot absorb the entire cost of the suspended or canceled federal funds, we will mobilize financial resources to support critical research activity for a transitional period as we continue to work with our researchers to identify alternative funding sources,” Harvard officials wrote in a message to the campus community.
The Contest Over Fairness in Higher Ed (opinion)
Not every claim of unfairness is equal, Uma Mazyck Jayakumar writes. My 5-year-old recently told me it was unfair that her teacher makes her write from left to right “like everyone else.” She’s left-handed, and for her, it smudges the ink and feels awkward—while her right-handed friends have no problem. I affirmed her frustration. It is harder. But I also knew that was discomfort, not injustice.
600 Students Punished for Protected Speech Since 2020
The free speech watchdog’s new Students Under Fire report shows a shift in what speech is being targeted—and by whom—since Hamas’s deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Between 2020 and 2024, more than 600 students or student organizations were penalized by campus administrators or their institution’s student government for protected speech, according to a new report from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. But the views punished have changed significantly since 2020, when most incidents centered on speech about race amid protests over the murder of George Floyd; these days, speech about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is most likely to lead to punishment.
Assessing What Reconciliation Means for Higher Ed
House committees put the finishing touches on their sections of the reconciliation megabill early this week. Now, all the pieces of the puzzle are laid out, and higher ed experts say the picture is grim. All the pieces of House Republicans’ plan to cut trillions in federal spending are now public, and if the package becomes law, colleges and universities could face crippling repercussions, higher education experts say. “It is a full-out assault on the ability of students—especially low-income students—to access and afford higher education,” said Jon Fansmith, senior vice president for government relations and national engagement at the American Council on Education. “It will have a dramatically negative impact, not just on higher ed, but on the whole population.”
Why Faculty Buy-In Is the Key to Scale
Why faculty buy-in is the key to scale. Developmental education reform has made significant strides in the past two decades, however, if the goal is equity, completion and lasting change in gateway courses, the work to reform developmental education isn’t done—not even close.
Faculty Survey Shows Need for Digital Accessibility Support
Only 10 percent of faculty believe their college provides adequate tools to support students with disabilities, making it hard to meet updated ADA mandates on digital accessibility. The U.S. Department of Justice introduced the Americans With Disabilities Act final rule for digital accessibility in 2024, requiring public colleges and universities to follow Web Content Accessibility Guidelines for ensuring that online programs, services and activities are accessible.
State Higher Ed Funding Rose Slightly Last Year
Funding rose slightly last year but could hit a ceiling as federal cuts put budgets in a bind. With tuition revenue dropping, public institutions may face difficult financial decisions. State support for higher education rose for the fifth year in a row last year, putting it 18 percent above pre-pandemic levels, according to a new report. But between major federal spending cuts and tightening state budgets, experts worry it may be the last gasp of the post-pandemic funding surge—and that public institutions can’t make up for it with rapidly declining tuition revenue.
McMahon Accuses Sen. Warren of “Fearmongering”
Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren tried to hold Education Secretary Linda McMahon’s feet to the fire on social media last week by inviting the secretary “to defend her actions to destroy public education” at an upcoming forum. But McMahon snapped right back in her own post Tuesday, declining the invitation and saying Warren’s note was full of “baseless accusations.”
Podcast: Students Learn to Talk With Strangers
In the latest episode of Voices of Student Success, a professor talks about her course that takes students into unfamiliar towns via railway to engage in conversation with strangers. Higher education is designed to be a space for open inquiry and disagreement, but encouraging students to engage in constructive dialogue can be a challenge. A January survey by the American Association of Colleges and Universities found that a majority of faculty believe they should intentionally invite student perspectives from all sides of an issue, and that they encourage mutually respectful disagreement among students in their courses.
Penn State Proposes Seven Campus Closures
Pennsylvania State University is weighing a plan to close seven of its 19 Commonwealth Campuses, which its governing board is expected to vote on in a virtual meeting Thursday. The campuses proposed for closure are Dubois, Fayette, Mont Alto, New Kensington, Shenango, Wilkes-Barre and York. Altogether, those campuses enroll just under 3,200 students. Penn State York, which had 703 students last fall, has the largest enrollment among the seven. If approved, the campuses will be shut down by the end of the spring 2027 semester.
HBCU Students Call for More Safety Measures After Shooting
Students at Elizabeth City State University are calling on the University of North Carolina system and university leaders to enhance campus security. Elizabeth City State University students are pushing for more safety measures at the historically Black university in North Carolina after their annual outdoor spring celebration was disrupted by gunshots last month.
Amid DEI Cancellations, Students Hold Affinity Graduations
Colleges have scrapped affinity graduation celebrations as Trump targets DEI and state bans take effect, but new traditions may be starting. As soon as the fraternity brothers of Epsilon Chi, the University of Kentucky chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha, the nation’s oldest historically Black fraternity, heard that the university was canceling its annual celebration of Black graduates, they jumped into action.
Colleges Spend Heavily on Lobbying
Amid conflict with the Trump administration, many institutions have increased federal lobbying efforts, in some cases doubling or tripling what they spent in the first quarter of 2024. As President Trump’s broadside attacks on higher education continue, few institutions have shown a willingness to push back publicly. But behind closed doors, the sector has already pumped millions of dollars into federal lobbying efforts this year to plead their case in Washington.
Report: Adult and Independent College Applicants on the Rise
The number of adult learners and other independent students applying to college has doubled in under a decade. The trouble, a new report suggests, is getting them to enroll. Financially independent students—including adult learners, emancipated traditional-age students and veterans—make up a large and fast-growing portion of the college applicant pool, according to a new report from Common App. Those students, who are more likely to be low income or first generation, also face greater barriers to enrollment and completion than their peers, the report found.
Endowment Taxes Could Climb to 21 Percent Under New Bill
The plan has been in the works for weeks and now will face a committee markup Tuesday. House Republicans on the Ways and Means Committee released the full version of a long-awaited tax bill Monday that does for higher ed exactly what they suggested it would in a draft version Friday: dramatically increase the excise tax on wealthy colleges’ endowments.
Five colleges Impacting Black Student Achievement
A recent report by the Campaign for College Opportunity encourages systemic measures to close equity gaps in Black student completion. Higher education can be an agent for positive change in students’ lives, providing personal, intellectual and socioeconomic growth opportunities. But not all of these outcomes are realized by every student.
UWF President Out Amid Trustee Tensions
University of West Florida President Martha Saunders announced her resignation Monday amid tensions with newly appointed members of the Board of Trustees. “In accordance with the terms of my contract, and after thoughtful reflection, I have made the decision to conclude my presidency. This was not an easy choice. I know it may come as a surprise, and for some, a disappointment. Please know I did not make it lightly. I believe this is the right time—for me and for UWF,” Saunders wrote to the campus community Monday.
Trump Sends Mixed Signals on Apprenticeship and Job Training
An executive order assured apprenticeship and workforce development advocates that their goals were a priority. But Trump’s recent budget proposal leaves them uncertain. President Trump issued an executive order last month instructing federal officials to “reach and surpass” a million new active apprenticeships. It was an ambitious target that apprenticeship advocates celebrated, anticipating new federal investments in more paid on-the-job training programs, in new industries and via a more efficient system.
So You Want to Be a Disrupter (opinion)
Jeffrey Herbst offers advice for how college leaders can prepare themselves for bruising battles over controversial changes in institutional direction. The need for higher education to be disrupted is felt everywhere. The demographic cliff, profound changes to financial models, emergence of artificial intelligence, the public’s loss of confidence and leadership challenges are all commonly cited reasons as to why business cannot continue as usual. Yet, there is usually little discussion of what disruption means and how it feels to actually do it.
Government Overreach Threatens Harvard’s Aims to “Improve Campus”
Harvard University president Alan Garber said in a letter to Education Secretary Linda McMahon that the federal government’s encroachment on institutional independence is diminishing Harvard’s efforts to end antisemitism on campus, promote viewpoint diversity and be a world leader in academic research.
Minority Health Grants Biggest Target of NIH Cuts
The Trump administration has terminated a disproportionately high number of research grants from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities during its ideological overhaul of the National Institutes of Health, according to a paper published in Journal of the American Medical Associat