Policy & Legal
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University of California freezes hiring as it braces for funding cuts
The system cited uncertainty at both the federal and state level, including heavy potential cuts from the National Institutes of Health.
By Ben Unglesbee • March 20, 2025 -
Trump signs order closing Education Department to ‘maximum extent appropriate’
The directive comes on the heels of U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon's decision to gut half the agency as its "final mission.”
By Naaz Modan • Updated 5 hours ago -
Explore the Trendline➔
MF3d via Getty ImagesTrendlineArtificial Intelligence
As AI continues its forward march in education and the workplace, colleges are grapplling with how best to incorporate the emerging technology into admissions, courrsework and elsewhere
By Higher Ed Dive staff -
Judge blocks cuts to Education Department teacher training grants
The agency must also reinstate canceled grants to the members of AACTE and two other educator preparation groups that sued.
By Anna Merod • March 20, 2025 -
Feds suspend $175M to University of Pennsylvania over trans athletics policy
The Trump administration shared the news in a social media post, but a Penn spokesperson said the institution hasn’t received “official notification.”
By Natalie Schwartz • March 19, 2025 -
Moody’s turns negative on higher ed’s financial outlook amid Trump cuts
Federal policy changes like layoffs at the U.S. Department of Education and funding reductions create major new risks for the sector, analysts said.
By Ben Unglesbee • March 19, 2025 -
Deep Dive
What will NCES layoffs mean for the Nation’s Report Card?
The U.S. Department of Education claims mandated tests like NAEP won’t be impacted, but laid-off employees beg to differ.
By Naaz Modan • March 18, 2025 -
Democrats demand details on Education Department layoffs
The cuts could hinder the agency’s ability to uphold its duties under key federal laws, according to the letter from three congressional leaders.
By Roger Riddell • March 18, 2025 -
Trump administration can enforce anti-DEI orders, appeals court rules
The three-judge panel lifted a lower court’s preliminary injunction that had blocked major portions of two executive orders.
By Natalie Schwartz • March 17, 2025 -
Wyoming’s anti-DEI law is ‘a tool for censorship,’ free speech group says
PEN America lambasted the Republican-led Legislature for interfering in instruction and taking a "battering ram" to the state’s education system.
By Laura Spitalniak • March 17, 2025 -
Education Department launches probes into over 50 colleges after anti-DEI guidance
The new investigations are part of the agency’s aggressive tactics to carry out President Donald Trump’s higher education policy priorities.
By Natalie Schwartz • March 14, 2025 -
Columbia University faces ultimatum from Trump administration to keep federal funding
Federal officials told the Ivy League institution to remake its disciplinary process and suspend or expel some pro-Palestinian protesters by March 20.
By Laura Spitalniak • March 14, 2025 -
Johns Hopkins to lay off 2,200 workers as it reels from Trump’s USAID cuts
The university said previously it faced an $800 million funding shortfall from the hollowed-out aid agency and would have to wind down programs.
By Ben Unglesbee • March 14, 2025 -
Trump administration silent on Muslim students’ civil rights
While this Education Department has taken strong action on antisemitism, its directives to date have not mentioned Islamophobia.
By Naaz Modan • Updated March 14, 2025 -
USDA restores funding to University of Maine System
In an about-face, the agency resumed payments after Sen. Susan Collins spoke with Trump administration officials.
By Ben Unglesbee • March 13, 2025 -
Retrieved from Kentucky Public Information Office.
Kentucky lawmakers vote to ban DEI spending at public colleges
Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear is unlikely to sign the bill, but Republican lawmakers hold a veto-proof supermajority in the Legislature.
By Laura Spitalniak • March 13, 2025 -
Half of OCR eliminated after Trump Education Department layoffs
The shuttering of seven civil rights enforcement offices means thousands of cases impacting colleges in half the nation are up in the air.
By Naaz Modan • March 13, 2025 -
‘Reckless, foolish and vicious’: Education Department cuts slammed by critics
Democratic lawmakers and higher ed groups voiced concerns that the firings would leave the agency without enough people to carry out key functions.
By Natalie Schwartz • March 12, 2025 -
USDA pauses funding to University of Maine System
The funding freeze follows a spat between President Donald Trump and Gov. Janet Mills over his order restricting transgender students from women’s sports.
By Ben Unglesbee • March 12, 2025 -
Opinion
How college presidents are quietly resisting federal attacks on higher education
Many leaders of institutions favor behind-the-scenes resistance over protests and op-eds, the Council of Independent Colleges’ president writes.
By Marjorie Hass • March 12, 2025 -
Education Department announces massive layoffs, slashing nearly half its workforce
The agency’s employee count will plummet from 4,133 when President Donald Trump was inaugurated to about 2,183.
By Naaz Modan • Updated March 11, 2025 -
Harvard among latest universities to freeze hiring amid federal funding uncertainty
The Ivy League institution’s officials emphasized that the move was temporary and meant to “preserve our financial flexibility.”
By Ben Unglesbee • March 11, 2025 -
Education Department warns 60 colleges it could take action over antisemitism concerns
The letters escalate the Trump administration’s scrutiny of how colleges are handling student protests over the Israel-Hamas war.
By Natalie Schwartz • March 10, 2025 -
Trump’s Education Department changes could lead to systemic ‘chaos’
Cuts to contracts, staff and civil rights probes might backfire, leading to less oversight and more mismanagement, education experts warn.
By Naaz Modan • March 10, 2025 -
ABA faces DOJ wrath over law school diversity requirements
"Any requirement that law schools demonstrate 'a commitment to diversity' is deeply problematic," said Attorney General Pam Bondi.
By Laura Spitalniak • March 10, 2025 -
DOL files fresh appeal of a Texas decision vacating its new overtime rule
It’s now the second such filing by the agency with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
By Ryan Golden • March 7, 2025