From @jessicablake.bsky.social, who is in the room, ED reached consensus on its proposed professional definition, which was released last night. So that's a wrap on this neg reg. www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-t...

The philanthropist MacKenzie Scott dropped upward of $300 million on historically Black colleges and universities this fall. Here's how campus leaders are spending the money.

U of Austin to End Tuition ‘Forever’ With Help of $100M Gift After receiving even more support from a big conservative donor, the not-yet-accredited institution announced it will neither charge tuition nor accept government funds. Some are skeptical. https://bit.ly/47sNHW4

We’re at day 4 of this week’s neg reg, and the department offered a slight expansion of its list of professional programs. More from @jessicablake.bsky.social here: www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-t...

I'm back on The Key this week with @saracuster.insidehighered.com. We talk about Dancing with the Stars, the romance novel I'm trying to write and all the news from the last month. www.insidehighered.com/podcasts/key...

What a fun story! And now I need to watch tonight www.thebanner.com/education/k-...

Trump Research Funding Plans: Penalize ‘Repeat Players,’ Reward Compact Signers www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...

The Princess Bride references during the editing process were many. But @jessicablake.bsky.social hasn’t seen it so alas.

This remains the most important piece I’ve ever read about baseball defector.com/is-the-phill...

So do they not fight it out in baseball like they do in hockey? Disappointing.

Faculty union rep: “You can’t discriminate against someone based on foreign birth. My big question coming away from this is: Where’s the authority?” Florida public universities have employed nearly 3,000 people via the H-1B program since 2022.

The latest on funding freezes from me: —Princeton quietly got some of its frozen grants restored this summer. —Cornell prez says total funds affected was $250M, not more than $1B —As of Oct. 17, Northwestern was struggling to get the Feds to negotiate. www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...

We added a new category to our tracker to cover this stance www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...

Searching for Compromise on Student Loan Caps Talks over which graduate programs qualify for more loans resume next week. The Education Department and higher ed negotiators remain far apart on the best solution. https://bit.ly/47KAMPd #EDUSky #AcademicSky #HigherEd

Here's a new way for lawyers to get rid of race-based scholarships. “I think the law was intended to kind of fulfill the promise of the Declaration of Independence, that all Americans are created equal,” said one of the lawyers involved. www.insidehighered.com/news/student...

Using an Anti-KKK Law to End a Black-Only Scholarship www.insidehighered.com/news/student...

UPDATE: Following court order, UC has posted the UCLA settlement proposal on its website: ucop.edu/communicatio...

After we asked a few times for it, Penn releases its letter to ED on the compact www.inquirer.com/news/upenn-l...

As more universities whether they'll sign the compact, @insidehighered.com is keeping track of all the responses here. We even made a map for you. www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...

Me whenever I find a feature in the CMS

In Fourth Week, Government Shutdown Increasingly Hinders Higher Ed Georgia Tech says it’s cutting expenses to “preserve cash,” the University of Hawaiʻi system is paying federally funded workers $20 million every two weeks and a N.J. community college says... https://bit.ly/4hozeh3

UVA essentially agreed to follow this DOJ memo www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...

A growing number of universities are using spoken "policies" to scrub transgender identity from course content and scare faculty members into compliance with legally fuzzy rules that violate academic freedom. More at @insidehighered.com: www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty... #AcademicSky

There's been lots of discussion about what the Office of Special Education's major reduction in force will mean for K-12 schools, but what about colleges and universities? I sat down with Jacqueline Rodriguez, CEO of the National Center for Learning Disabilities, to find out.

Breaking news: The Education Department is looking to move a $15 billion program supporting students with disabilities out of the agency as it works to close the agency altogether, a department official said.

Hi I'm an @insidehighered.com reporter writing about which universities are cutting travel expenses, freezing hiring or slashing other costs citing the fed government shutdown. Please DM me or email me any examples at [email protected] today (especially statements on websites)!

Trump Gutted the Institute of Education Sciences. Its Renewal Is in Doubt. www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...

Today is the deadline for the nine original invitees to provide feedback on the White House’s compact. So far none have accepted it wholesale- Vanderbilt said it would provide feedback. Silence from UT Austin. @byjoshmoody.bsky.social reports www.insidehighered.com/news/governa...

After much consternation, the University of Arizona tells me this is a rejection even though they won't use that language...

Today’s the feedback deadline for the compact, and I broke down what we know about the document so far here from why the White House is taking this approach to what could happen to those who reject it. www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...

Dartmouth makes it six colleges and universities to publicly reject Trump's higher ed compact. Three (of original 9) to go! www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...

The plans:

The University of Virginia has become the first public, and Southern, institution to publicly turn down Trump's “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education." Four of the original nine universities presented the deal are still mum: www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...

For those not keeping track, here’s where we stand with the initial nine, though the compact is open to all of higher ed now.

And now UVa rejects the compact.

NEWS — The White House says it has invited the five institutions that haven't said whether they'll agree to the compact to a meeting this afternoon. One source sees the meeting as a way to "regain momentum by threatening institutions to sign." www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...

The deadline for compact responses is near, and we're still waiting to hear from five universities. But here's @ryanequinn.bsky.social on why Penn and USC said no. www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...

Story: Penn, U. of Southern California Reject Trump Compact www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...

Penn first today, and the U of Southern California has now rejected the Trump higher ed compact, too. That's 4 out of 9 so far, no answers yet from rest: we-are.usc.edu/2025/10/16/u...

And that's two against the compact as Brown joins MIT in rejecting the deal. president.brown.edu/president/br...

So now that Trump says the compact is open to all, who will sign? So far, it’s not clear. Plus, some universities might be waiting on an official invite, rather than going off a Truth Social post. www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...

#BREAKING: The Department of Education has delayed the semiannual convening of its accreditation advisory committee, NACIQI, for the second time this year, according to an email obtained by @insidehighered.com.

Already Battered by Cuts, Researchers and Colleges Face Federal Shutdown Impacts

Hey, I'm an @insidehighered.com reporter writing today about how the ongoing shutdown may be affecting, or about to affect, university research. If you have a story to share, please DM me or email [email protected] today. Thank you.

As far as we know, 500 employees at ED were fired today. A senior department leader told @jessicablake.bsky.social that the directive came from Ross Vought's OMB and took the department by surprise. www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...

Another 466 employees being laid off from the Department of Education. Remember this was the plan all along: Traumatize the federal workforce. Dismantle ED. Break the institutions.

Here's what we know about today's mass layoffs

BREAKING: Staff at the Education Department are affected by the mass layoffs that OMB Chief Russell Vought promised today on X. A department spokesperson confirmed this but didn’t say how many employees will be affected or in which offices. ED has already lost half its staff to a previous RIF.

The Education Department has hired at least 9 people from the America First Policy Institute, co-founded by Secretary Linda McMahon. The think tank’s listed goals include ending the separation of church and state and “plant[ing] Jesus in every space.”

Democratic Lawmakers Pressure UVA Democrats are demanding answers over the University of Virginia president’s resignation and warning the board against signing a proposed federal compact. https://bit.ly/4350eMC #EDUSky #AcademicSky #HigherEd