Most-clicked story of the week:
Pennsylvania State University is looking to cut 47 undergraduate degree programs following a review of its 403 associate and bachelor’s degrees. The programs — spanning from professional photography to astronomy — enroll about 1.1% of the university’s roughly 68,000 undergraduate students.
Number of the week: 9
The number of universities facing a federal investigation into whether they’re abusing the J-1 visa program, which allows higher education institutions to bring over foreign students, lecturers and researchers. During a press conference, Vice President JD Vance accused the colleges of hiring foreign researchers “to undercut the wages of American residents.”
Utah’s public colleges can’t be sanctuary campuses:
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The leader of Utah’s higher education system said the state’s public colleges can’t label themselves as sanctuary campuses, a designation that would mean they vow to protect undocumented students and employees from deportation, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.
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Utah System of Higher Education Commissioner Geoff Landward said in a letter that adopting the label would be “inherently political,” and would therefore violate the system’s policy mandating institutional neutrality.
- University of Utah leaders had sought advice on the matter after students had advocated for almost two years for the institution to become a sanctuary campus, according to The Tribune.
The latest state funding news:
- The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system’s governing board voted to approve a policy that will allow it to reallocate up to $25 million each year from its 33 colleges to any of its financially struggling institutions.
- Minnesota State isn't the only Minnesota higher ed system facing financial woes. The University of Minnesota’s looming budget cuts could reach up to $261.8 million over the next two years, tens of millions more than the $225 million initially shared by the institution’s senior leaders, The Minnesota Star Tribune reported.
- New Hampshire’s Republican governor, Kelly Ayotte, called for the state to launch a free community college program for students from families who earn up to $100,000.
The latest federal fights:
- The U.S. Department of Justice threatened the American Bar Association’s accreditation arm with an antitrust investigation if it doesn’t change its policies meant to restrict the role adjunct professors play in legal education, The Wall Street Journal reported.
- The Trump administration appealed a ruling that found its efforts to revoke students' visas based on their protected speech was unconstitutional.
- The Republican chair of the House’s education committee, Rep. Tim Walberg, is demanding the University of California, San Francisco and the University of California, Los Angeles’ medical schools turn over documents related to an investigation into whether their admissions and employment practices are racially discriminatory.
Quote of the week:
“I’ve always said, my job is not to get the next class. It’s to build a pipeline to students from around the world for the next 20 to 25 years.”
Yvonne Romero
Vice president, enrollment and dean of admissions and financial aid at Rice University
Admissions leaders from several universities shared their advice for recruiting international students even amid federal policy uncertainty during the National Association for College Admission Counseling’s annual conference.
