Finance
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University of Nebraska board approves cutting programs with low enrollment
The eliminations come after a bruising budget-saving push to eliminate degrees last year at the system’s Lincoln campus.
By Ben Unglesbee • Aug. 14, 2026 -
Courtesy of Sonoma State University
Q&AHow Sonoma State saved academic programs slated for closure
After wide-ranging academic cuts, the public institution’s leaders worked with faculty to make some previously doomed programs more efficient and viable.
By Ben Unglesbee • Aug. 10, 2026 -
Explore the Trendline➔
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TrendlineCampus Facilities
Physical security measures, renovation backlogs, sustainability and financing all come into play when the spotlight turns to college and university campuses.
By Higher Ed Dive staff -
Minnesota State Mankato to undergo layoffs, hike tuition amid $22M shortfall
Despite strong enrollment, the public university said it’s facing a large budget hole due to stagnant state funding.
By Natalie Schwartz • Updated Aug. 10, 2026 -
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Illinois Institute of Technology lays off 160 faculty and staff members
As it undergoes a major restructuring, the private institution cited challenges in international student enrollment and research cutbacks.
By Ben Unglesbee • Aug. 4, 2026 -
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University of Valley Forge in Pennsylvania to shutter
The Christian institution is suspending education activities indefinitely after its board determined it “could not continue academic operations responsibly.”
By Ben Unglesbee • July 30, 2026 -
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Texas community college funding model faces ‘growing pains’
Although leaders praised the performance-based formula, they asked lawmakers to provide sufficient money for it.
By Ben Unglesbee • July 30, 2026 -
Courtesy of Sonoma State University
Sonoma State to relaunch NCAA athletics after budget cuts eliminated sports
The university faced outcry and a lawsuit over its decision to eliminate sports last year as part of broader cuts to close a $24 million deficit.
By Ben Unglesbee • July 29, 2026 -
Ben Unglesbee/Higher Ed Dive
The fine art of talking about college budgets
Better financial communication can bolster transparency, experts said at the National Association of College and University Business Officers’ conference.
By Ben Unglesbee • July 24, 2026 -
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Ctrl+F: Federal agencies used keyword searches to nix grants en masse, court records show
The National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation and other agencies cut awards over terms like “diversity” and “health equity.”
By Laura Spitalniak • July 23, 2026 -
Ben Unglesbee/Higher Ed Dive
‘A more defensive posture’: College finance leaders navigate a turbulent policy world
Experts discussed loan caps, federal probes and other shifts at the National Association of College and University Business Officers’ annual meeting.
By Ben Unglesbee • July 23, 2026 -
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S&P: Despite enrollment gains, margins have worsened at colleges
The credit ratings agency found increases in median headcounts across colleges it rates, but also weakening operating margins in fiscal 2025.
By Ben Unglesbee • July 15, 2026 -
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Penn State, Temple and Pitt get boost from new performance-based funding
A new $10 million pool of performance-based funds adds money to long-stagnant appropriations but falls short of higher education leaders’ hopes.
By Ben Unglesbee • July 15, 2026 -
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University of Nebraska System braces for unexpected $36M state funding cut
“There are limits to what can be achieved through continued reductions,” the system’s president said as ever-deepening austerity measures loom.
By Ben Unglesbee • July 13, 2026 -
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Temple University lays off 40 employees as it tackles deficit
The public Philadelphia institution is reducing its workforce for the second year in a row but has seen promising enrollment gains of late.
By Ben Unglesbee • July 10, 2026 -
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Moody’s downgrades Brown University’s outlook to negative
The credit ratings agency primarily cited the Ivy League institution’s “already thin operating performance” that could continue for several years.
By Natalie Schwartz • July 7, 2026 -
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Column // College Closure FilesBehind Northland’s closure — and the bid to keep its mission alive
The college transformed in the 1970s into an ecologically minded liberal arts institution. Now former faculty want to sustain that ethos in a smaller version.
By Ben Unglesbee • July 6, 2026 -
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Johns Hopkins lays off 110 employees in the wake of federal research cuts
"As our federal research portfolio shrinks, the infrastructure around it must change in parallel,” a spokesperson for the private university said.
By Ben Unglesbee • June 26, 2026 -
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Private colleges grew revenue last year — but not by enough, Fitch says
Costs, competition and ‘adversarial federal policy’ are weighing heavily on private colleges, according to analysts with the credit ratings agency.
By Ben Unglesbee • June 24, 2026 -
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UConn expands budget-tightening measures to close $83.5M deficit
The flagship plans to adjust contracts and restrict hiring as it grapples with rising costs, declines in federal research funding and other challenges.
By Ben Unglesbee • June 22, 2026 -
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Sponsored by Strayer UniversityMeeting the modern student where they are: How Strayer is advancing creative and technology innovation
From screen scoring to cybersecurity, Strayer University rewrites the rules of higher education.
June 22, 2026 -
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Southern Oregon University plan would cut 3 majors, roughly 66 jobs
The new proposal comes after the public institution carried out two recent rounds of workforce cuts and declared financial exigency last year.
By Natalie Schwartz • June 18, 2026 -
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Northpoint Bible College ends degree programs after losing accreditation
The Massachusetts institution is going forward with a new name and three-year programs that its president said will transfer for credit to partner institutions.
By Ben Unglesbee • June 17, 2026 -
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Kentucky State gets OK for program cuts amid state-mandated overhaul
The state’s higher education authority signed off on the narrowed offerings even as a lawsuit contests the university’s transformation.
By Ben Unglesbee • June 15, 2026 -
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A ‘new normal’: Syracuse faces enrollment dip, first deficit in years
The New York institution has so far dodged many of its peers’ woes. But demographic shifts and enrollment declines are weighing on its finances.
By Ben Unglesbee • June 12, 2026 -
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Marshall University to cut 7 programs, expand others
The public West Virginia institution’s tweaks to its offerings follow a state-mandated review and come amid an effort to shrink its deficit.
By Ben Unglesbee • June 12, 2026
