Dive Brief:
- Nearly all senior higher education leaders — 98% — reported that federal policymaking has introduced uncertainty into institutional planning, according to the latest pulse survey from the American Council on Education.
- Topping the list of senior leaders’ most pressing concerns is state and federal interference with colleges’ autonomy. Over 70% of leaders said they were either extremely or moderately concerned about threats to independence and academic freedom.
- “Uncertainty around research funding, immigration and international engagement, academic freedom, and student aid policy are shaping institutional decision-making and straining long-term planning efforts,” the report’s authors wrote.
Dive Insight:
After 2025’s many policy upheavals, it would be shocking only if college leaders didn’t report some uncertainty.
Last year, President Donald Trump and his administration upended many of the sector's longstanding precedents and fundamental assumptions. Trump’s executive branch attacked everything from the U.S. Department of Education as a whole, to research funding, to the visa system for international students, to individual colleges, many of which became targets of civil rights investigations and political pressure campaigns.
Trump and congressional Republicans also ended the 20-year-old Grad PLUS loan program and introduced new caps on federal student loans that some worry will limit students’ access to graduate education.
All of that tumult is clearly weighing on the minds of college leaders.
Nearly three in four senior leaders described their level of uncertainty about the federal policy environment and its impact on planning as “extreme” or “moderate,” according to the poll. Another 19% reported “some” uncertainty and 7% described it as “slight.”
Trump’s impact on international student enrollment — with recent studies showing dips in graduate and new students from abroad — also loomed large for many leaders. Sixty percent said they were extremely or moderately concerned about immigration restrictions and visa revocations.
Academic freedom and institutional autonomy are also arguably more at risk than they have been in generations.
Trump’s government has tried to force policy changes at colleges through federal investigations, research funding cuts and his compact for higher education. In some cases, the administration has wrested payments and policy changes from institutions under pressure.
But many colleges and universities are also losing their independence through new state laws that aim to weaken governance, direct course content, and banish diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
In a recent report, the free expression group PEN America described 2025 as a “catastrophe” for higher ed. The group counted 21 bills across 15 states enacted in 2025 that it says censor higher education and were the “result of a relentless, years-old campaign to exert ideological control over college and university campuses.”
College leaders also flagged perennial challenges among their concerns in the ACE poll. That includes fiscal pressures, with 44% reporting either extreme or moderate concern about long-term financial viability. Enrollment, the mental health of students and perceptions about higher education’s value were all among leaders’ most pressing concerns as well. Over 75% reported extreme or moderate concern around what the public and policymakers thought about the sector.
The ACE report drew from a December survey of 386 senior leaders from colleges nationwide.
