Orthodox Jewish Student Accuses Williams College of Housing Discrimination
The Louis D. Brandeis Center has lodged a Fair Housing Act complaint with HUD against Williams College, alleging that the school failed to accommodate an Orthodox Jewish freshman’s Sabbath and kosher‑diet needs. The student was denied a physical dorm key, forced to wait for staff entry, and received only vegan meals that did not meet kosher standards, leading to health problems and extra expenses. Williams says it is engaged in dialogue to resolve the issue, while HUD’s review could establish a new legal pathway for religious‑housing disputes on campuses. The case highlights a growing tension between college policies and religious accommodation obligations.
After Board Wiped Out, 13 Former NSF Leaders Call for New Members, Director
Thirteen former NSF directors and board chairs have written to the Senate and the Trump administration urging the appointment of a new NSF director and the restoration of a functional National Science Board. The agency has been leaderless since the...
Teaching AI by Doing, Not Studying
The University of Virginia’s College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences has launched the AI Literacy and Action Lab, a partnership with the university library to embed AI competency into coursework. The lab’s framework centers on five core competencies—technical...
Labor Watch: Loyola, UC Workers to Strike While Harvard Fights Continue
Higher‑education labor actions intensified in early May as Loyola University Chicago non‑tenure‑track faculty began a strike demanding 5% wage hikes, paid parental leave and course‑release provisions. The University of California system’s 42,000 service and patient‑care workers also voted to strike...
Loan Limits Finalized, but Litigation Looms
The Trump administration finalized new federal loan caps that limit graduate students to $20,500 per year and professional students to $50,000 per year, with the Education Department designating only 11 degree programs as “professional.” The narrow definition excludes many health‑related...
As AI Skills Surge, Entry-Level Jobs Lag
Handshake’s Class of 2026 report shows AI tool usage among graduating seniors has surged to 85%, a 31‑point jump in two years, while employer demand for AI‑related skills is rising across sectors. Full‑time job postings mentioning AI have doubled to...
Carter Sought to Hire Associate at Nebraska
Former University of Nebraska system president Ted Carter, who left the role in late 2023 to become Ohio State’s president, is accused of trying to secure a job for Krisanthe Vlachos, a woman with whom he had an inappropriate relationship....
The Key Podcast: Why Match Matters in M&A
The latest episode of Inside Higher Ed’s podcast "The Key" highlights findings from the 2026 IHE Survey of College and University Presidents, showing that internal discussions about mergers and acquisitions remain steady, with private nonprofit leaders far more engaged than...
ED Launches Civil Rights Investigation Into Stanford
The U.S. Department of Education announced a civil‑rights investigation into Stanford University, alleging that the school’s National Board Resource Center selects participants based on skin color rather than merit. The probe claims this practice violates Title VI of the Civil Rights...
Civil Rights Office Resolved 1% of Cases in 2025, Report Finds
In 2025 the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights resolved only 112 cases, representing just 1% of its backlog—the lowest rate in over a decade. The agency settled no complaints involving sexual harassment, sexual violence, or racial harassment, and disability‑discrimination...
Is Your AI Ethical, Human-Centered and Pro-Social?
The column argues that AI adoption in higher education must move beyond efficiency metrics to prioritize ethical, human‑centered, and pro‑social outcomes. It highlights insights from three leading models—ChatGPT 5.4, Claude Sonnet 4.6, and Gemini 3—showing a consensus that AI choice is now an ethical...
5 AI Myths and Why We Must Move Past Them
Educators are still clinging to outdated AI‑detection myths, such as spotting em dashes or using recent‑event prompts, despite studies showing humans can’t reliably identify AI‑generated text. Real‑time language models have eliminated tricks like the “calendar” approach, and tactics like hidden...
Harvard Grad Student Workers Go On Strike
More than 4,000 Harvard graduate students authorized a strike last week after 14 months of stalled negotiations. The Harvard Graduate Students Union is demanding a $55,000 base salary, annual raises of 5% or inflation‑adjusted, and paid leave for non‑citizen workers...
Judge Grants Stay in EEOC V. Penn Case on Jewish Employees
A federal judge, Gerald Pappert, granted a stay on the EEOC’s order that required the University of Pennsylvania to provide the names of employees belonging to on‑campus Jewish groups. The stay suspends the earlier ruling while the university appeals, citing...
‘Inside Higher Ed’ Launches Subscription Model
Inside Higher Ed launched a paid subscription model on April 23, 2026, offering unlimited access to its news, deep dives, and Quick Takes for $99 per year. The service retains a free tier limited to three articles per month, while...
Sal Khan, TED, ETS Eye the Degree Market
Sal Khan announced the Khan TED Institute (KTI), a joint nonprofit venture with ETS and TED, backed by corporate partners like Google and Microsoft, to offer AI‑focused bachelor’s degrees costing under $10,000. The program will use competency‑based assessments rather than...
Survey: Americans View AI Use on Campus as Important, Yet Remain Skeptical
A Quinnipiac University poll of 1,210 U.S. adults finds that while three‑quarters believe teaching AI on college campuses is important, fewer than half expect students to use the technology for learning. Nearly half of respondents think AI will enable students...
Higher Ed’s Data Problem
Higher education institutions sit on massive data troves—student finances, enrollment, outcomes—but most lack modernized systems to clean, integrate, and analyze that information. At the recent ASU+GSV conference, leaders highlighted AI’s promise for student success, yet warned that “bad data in,...
The Flaws of Tennessee’s Charlie Kirk Act
Tennessee’s revised Charlie Kirk Act, championed by free‑speech advocates, removed the original mandatory discipline clause and the private civil enforcement provision. The law still permits sanctions for walk‑outs that cause “material and substantial disruption,” a standard that could be stretched...
Appeals Court Reinstates Indiana Ban on Student IDs for Voting
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit lifted a preliminary injunction, reinstating Indiana’s law that bars the use of public university IDs for voting. The ban, originally passed in 2025, had been blocked last week after a student...
The Myriad Complex Ways Young People Use AI
The Rithm Project surveyed 2,400 U.S. youths aged 13‑24, uncovering four broad AI‑usage groups and nine detailed portraits. Roughly 28% use AI infrequently, 39% for information and tasks, 18% for personal support, and 15% engage with humanlike AI characters. The...
CUNY Tool Improves Credit Transfer
The City University of New York’s Transfer Explorer (T‑REX) platform, launched in 2020, helps students, advisers and faculty see how courses transfer across CUNY’s 20 colleges and which credits satisfy specific degree requirements. An Ithaka S+R study of nearly 30,000...
Tuna Fish and Hot Fudge
The Washington Post highlighted how competency‑based education (CBE) combined with generative AI can let students earn four‑year degrees in months. CBE speeds learners past material they already master, while AI automates assessments and paper‑writing. The article warns that this shortcut...
College Students Are More Polarized Than Ever. Can AI Help?
College campuses are seeing their sharpest political divide in four decades, with student discomfort over sharing views rising from 13 % in 2015 to 33 % in 2024. Universities are turning to artificial‑intelligence to scale civil‑dialogue programs that human‑run initiatives struggle to...
Climate Knowledge Linked to Student Stress
A Quinnipiac University study of 305 undergraduates found that while 95% recognize climate change as real, greater climate knowledge is linked to heightened stress, anxiety, and depression. Students reporting higher stress are more likely to adjust daily habits and reconsider...
A ‘Legal Movement’ Against Campus Antisemitism
The Louis D. Brandeis Center convened its first Harvard conference to chart a legal campaign against campus antisemitism, urging the use of Title VI and Title VII civil‑rights statutes. Recent lawsuits, including a DOJ suit against Harvard, have produced settlements that require...
Law Student Disciplined for ‘Celebrating’ Charlie Kirk’s Death Sues Texas Tech
Third‑year Texas Tech law student Ellen Fisher has sued the university after the School of Law Honor Council recommended a reprimand for allegedly celebrating the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The proposed sanction would require reporting to the Texas...
Ohio Attorney General Sues Hebrew Union to Prevent Campus Sale
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has filed a lawsuit against Hebrew Union College to stop the sale of its Cincinnati campus. The college announced it will wind down its Cincinnati rabbinical school program by the end of the 2025‑26 academic...
New Trump Lawsuit Is ‘Do-Over’ of Case Already Won, Harvard Says
Harvard University filed a motion asking a Massachusetts federal court to transfer a new Trump administration antisemitism lawsuit to Judge Allison Burroughs, who previously ruled in Harvard's favor in a similar case. The university argues the new suit is a duplicate...
Borrowers With Disabilities Sue Trump Administration Over Denied Debt Relief
Federal law requires the Department of Education to discharge federal student loans for borrowers with total and permanent disabilities. Two women—Nicole Coe, diagnosed with lupus, and Mary Anderson, with a terminal heart condition—filed discharge applications in late 2024 and early...
Texas A&M Taps Longtime Administrator as President
Texas A&M University’s Board of Regents has named longtime system administrator Susan Ballabina as the sole finalist for the presidency, initiating a 21‑day statutory period before a final vote. The move departs from recent trends of appointing former Republican lawmakers,...
Ball State President Settles Free Speech Lawsuit
Ball State University President Geoffrey Mearns settled an ACLU‑filed First Amendment lawsuit brought by former staffer Suzanne Swierc, who was terminated after a Facebook post mourning the assassination of activist Charlie Kirk. The settlement, announced on April 7, includes undisclosed monetary...
Student-Built Instruments Head to Space
Astrophysics undergraduates Eva Godwin and Gael Gonzalez at the College of Charleston have built two research instruments that will fly aboard Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus‑24 cargo mission to the International Space Station. The payload includes a liquid‑lens optical camera for studying biological...
Presidents Puzzled on Rebuilding Public Trust in Higher Ed
A 2026 Inside Higher Ed survey of 430 college presidents shows public trust in higher education remains at historic lows, with only 16% rating institutions as at least moderately effective in rebuilding that trust. Over half of schools (51%) have...
Oregon State Cascades Removes Chancellor Amid Investigation
Oregon State University Cascades has removed Chancellor and Dean Sherman Bloomer following a misconduct investigation initiated after a March 18 complaint. The probe, conducted by an external team under the Office of Equal Opportunity and Access, involves interviews and evidence collection...
UChicago Receives $50M Gift to Hire Faculty With AI Expertise
The University of Chicago has secured a $50 million donation from trustee Rika Mansueto and her husband Joe, founder of Morningstar, to launch the Mansueto Faculty of Mind and Machine Challenge. The initiative aims to raise nearly $200 million to recruit 20...
Consumer Protection Group Unveils Student AI Bill of Rights
The National Student Legal Defense Network released a Student AI Bill of Rights, urging colleges to adopt clear standards for AI use. The five‑article framework demands transparency, human oversight, data ownership, bias mitigation, and equitable access to AI benefits. It...
Biden’s Education Secretary to Lead Conn. Workforce Panel
Former U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona has been named chair of a new Connecticut Career Pathways Commission. Governor Ned Lamont created the commission via executive order to craft a five‑year strategic plan for the state’s career pathways system. The panel...
New Presidents: Dakota State, the Citadel, Cal Poly Pomona, Tougaloo and More
A wave of presidential appointments reshapes leadership across U.S. higher education. John Ballard leaves the National Intelligence University for Dakota State, while Frank McKenzie, a cybersecurity specialist, takes the helm at The Citadel. Vanya Quiñones moves from CSU Monterey Bay to Cal Poly Pomona,...
How 5 Colleges Are Approaching AI
Colleges across the United States are rapidly embedding artificial intelligence into curricula, campus services, and workforce preparation. Institutions such as Agnes Scott, University of Richmond, Bryn Mawr, Cornell, and DeVry showcase diverse strategies—from mandatory first‑year AI literacy to AI sandboxes in libraries...
What to Know About AI and Mental Health
University of Tennessee wellness leaders report that 30‑40% of students rely on AI chatbots for companionship and that 13% of adolescents aged 12‑21 have already used generative AI for mental‑health advice, with 92.7% finding it helpful. Research from Common Sense...
Attrition and Career Ladders
Employers are increasingly using attrition—letting positions disappear rather than filling them—to cut costs while avoiding the political fallout of layoffs. Artificial intelligence is automating many entry‑level tasks, effectively removing the first rungs of the career ladder. This shift transfers employment...
What May (or May Not) Get University Employees Fired
A recent column outlines how university employee terminations are inconsistently applied, noting that only 10 of 28 extreme misconduct scenarios actually led to firing. It attributes this variability to leadership avoidance, tribal dynamics, vague policies, lack of documentation, and bias...
As Lawsuits Against Trump Pile Up, Strategies Shift and Battle Lines Become Clear
More than a year into Trump’s second term, federal courts have become the primary battleground over his higher‑education agenda. Inside Higher Ed’s analysis of 64 lawsuits shows plaintiffs winning 33 cases while the administration leads in only 17, with 14...
AI Pushing Students to Consider Changing Majors
Nearly half of U.S. college students have considered changing their major because of concerns that generative AI will reshape the job market, according to a Gallup‑Lumina survey of 3,801 respondents. The highest contemplation rates appear among technology majors (70%) and...
Michigan Research Center Faces Local Opposition
The University of Michigan announced a $1.2 billion, 290,000‑square‑foot high‑performance computing complex in partnership with Los Alamos National Laboratory, slated for Ypsilanti Township. Ypsilanti Township Board of Trustees voted unanimously to oppose the project, citing terrorism, cyber‑attack risks, and potential harm...
Cowork Cautions
The piece questions the hype surrounding AI agents such as Claude Cowork, which some claim will radically reshape academic professional‑staff work. While a colleague reports using AI as a collaborative medium for spreadsheets, decks and documents, the author’s own experience...
Louisiana May Broaden University Public Records Exemptions
The Louisiana Senate passed Senate Bill 289 with a 36‑2 vote, moving it to the House. The bill would exempt public universities from disclosing executive‑level job applications, donor identities, and certain proprietary research until specific conditions are met. Finalists’ applications...
Diversity Officers Gather to Grieve and Rally
The National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE) convened 800 DEI leaders in Philadelphia to mourn recent cuts and rally for future action. Key speakers, including Maurice Stinnett and NADOHE president Emelyn dela Peña, highlighted political attacks, funding...
Admin, Staff Raises Outpace Inflation While Faculty Salaries Lag
The College and University Professional Association for Human Resources (CUPA‑HR) reports that for the third consecutive year, higher‑education staff, administrators and professionals received median salary increases that outpaced inflation, while tenure‑track faculty saw only a 1.8 percent raise—the lowest among all...