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College officials can take several steps to navigate the new $100,000 fee for H-1B visas, such as educating lawmakers about how the policy is impacting the sector and proactively seeking exemptions for workers they’d like to sponsor. “Universities need to plan ahead to make those arguments to show that the people that they want to hire are eligible for that exception,” said Joshua Wildes, associate attorney at immigration law firm Wildes & Weinberg.
Number of the week: 2.4%
That’s the increase in undergraduate enrollment in fall 2025 compared to the year before, according to preliminary figures from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. The increase would represent the third straight year of undergraduate growth, though that figure could change when the clearinghouse releases its final report in January.
What’s the latest with the Education Department?
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The U.S. Department of Education issued a notice last week saying that only four-year colleges would be subject to collection of admissions data broken down by race and sex. However, open-enrollment institutions that award aid based only on need would be exempt along with two-year colleges.
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The congressional budget deal to end the government shutdown nullified reduction-in-force notices sent to 465 Education Department employees earlier this month. The agency is also prohibited from issuing further layoff notices through the end of January. The continuing resolution, signed into law by President Donald Trump on Nov. 12, funds the Education Department through Jan. 30, 2026.
- U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon cast the Trump administration’s recent $60 million deal with Cornell University as an example of colleges “refocusing their attention on merit, rigor, and truth seeking — not ideology.” Cornell is giving $30 million to the Trump administration and devoting another $30 million to agricultural research in exchange for having its federal grants restored.
The latest college budget cuts:
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University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s chancellor, Rodney Bennett, unveiled his final budget plan that would cut four academic programs — ultimately sparing two that he had placed on the chopping block earlier this fall. However, Bennett’s plan still would eliminate two programs that an academic advisory committee recommended keeping.
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Rider University, a private nonprofit in New Jersey, is pursuing faculty layoffs and other budget-cutting measures to address a financial crisis. Rider plans to lay off 35 to 40 full-time faculty, cut base employee pay by 14% and increase workloads for instructors, among other measures.
- This year, at least 15 states either proposed or enacted budget cuts for public higher education, according to a recent analysis from Pew Charitable Trusts. In other states, flat funding or meager increases translated into declines when accounting for inflation.
