Colleen Flaherty

How DOGE Gutted the NEH in 22 Days Internal documents show how leadership at the National Endowment for the Humanities handed over the grant termination process to DOGE and ChatGPT.

Jump scare image but check out this doozy of a story by @saracuster.insidehighered.com about the NEH—with virtually no pushback from then-acting chair—getting DOGE'd into cancelling a whopping 97% of grants. ChatGPT was its reviewer 2 of choice. HVAC offends: www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...

Why ROI Is Tied to More Than Major Rasheem Rooke has used TikTok to try to help families better understand the cost of college and what students should do to get the most out of their experience.

"An 18-year-old doesn’t know what they don’t know. They just don’t." www.insidehighered.com/news/student...

Buzzy UCSD Math Readiness Report Failed to Mention Calculator Ban Instead, the authors pinned the change on COVID-19 and an increase in low-income student enrollments. It’s unclear whether they knew about the calculator policy change.

From @emmawhitford.bsky.social: Turns out that UCSD report sounding the alarm on plummeting math readiness didn't mention the recent calculator ban for placement tests: www.insidehighered.com/news/student...

Town vs. Gown Battles Brew in Pennsylvania, Colorado Valley Forge Military College is fighting an effort by the local township to seize part of its property, while Colorado State is locked in conflict over contentious campus billboards.

Come for the town gown content, stay for the siege and marriage metaphors: "English said that he informed the U.S. Army that 'we are under attack.'" via Josh Moody www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...

Why Higher Ed Is Leaning Into Apprenticeships Colleges are facing “a perfect storm.” Is adding apprenticeship pathways a way through?

Apprenticeship pathways are part of the experience imperative in higher ed's VUCA era: www.insidehighered.com/news/tech-in...

Defense Dept. Weighs Ending Grad Aid at 35 Institutions The Department of Defense is considering ending tuition assistance for active-duty military members in graduate programs at 33 highly selective U.S. universities—plus the London School of Economics an...

Smart is powerful. www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-t...

After “Rupture,” Science Leaders Call for More Advocacy The Trump administration’s seismic disruptions to the academic research enterprise were top of mind at the annual meeting of the American Association of the Advancement of Science in Phoenix last week...

After ‘Rupture,’ Science Leaders Call for More Advocacy

The Trump administration’s seismic disruptions to the academic research enterprise were top of mind at the annual meeting of the AAAS in Phoenix last week. bit.ly/4aH73Hl

To Reach Students, College Marketers Prioritize AI Visibility Students are using AI tools to decide where to apply to college, pushing institutional leaders to find ways to ensure that AI chatbots include their college in the conversation.

AI is changing the way people interact with news, etc., including @insidehighered.com so this makes sense. My 2c is wondering if ChatGPT free adding ads will make chatbot searches a little more "old school," at least for colleges w/paid ads. www.insidehighered.com/news/tech-in...

OSU Professor On Leave After Tackling Documentarian An Ohio State University spokesperson called the incident “very concerning.” Campus police are investigating.

An Ohio State University professor who was recently hired to help advance free speech and civil discourse is now on administrative leave after assaulting a documentarian on campus, university officials confirmed Wednesday. www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...

How Congress’s Budget Could Hamper Trump ED Agenda Democratic lawmakers pushed for several guardrails in an attempt to restrict how the White House doles out federal funds.

The new budget bills include significant changes that may restrict how Trump doles out federal funds.

Experts from both parties agree, Congress is sending a message.

“The changes to the bill show that even Republicans are concerned about their lack of ability to hold those strings of the purse.”

EAB Report Finds Confluence of Pressures on Higher Ed A new report from EAB finds colleges are battered by political, social and market forces, resulting in a sector with less autonomy and tighter margins than in past downturns.

Good read: "Institutions are facing what EAB calls 'synchronized compression,' which means leaders have 'fewer cushions to absorb shocks' due to simultaneous pressure on revenues and expenses." www.insidehighered.com/news/busines...

ED Tells Universities Not to Use Student Voting Data The department announced Thursday it’s investigating Tufts University and the National Student Clearinghouse over alleged student privacy violations in the National Study of Learning, Voting and Engag...

Investigations into the National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement could impact college student participation in this year’s midterms. Ed Sec McMahon said colleges "should be focused on teaching, learning, and research—not influencing elections.” www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...

Tenure Eliminated at Oklahoma Colleges Regional and community college professors will no longer receive tenure; research university faculty are spared, with some exceptions.

Bills to this end were fringe legislation in red states less than decade ago. Big news for the future of the professoriate: www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...

Top 12 Findings From Inside Higher Ed’s Surveys in 2025 Here’s what our annual surveys of higher ed leaders and students revealed.

"Rage bait” was the word of the year, according to Oxford University Press. And there was certainly some of that around higher ed in 2025. But “uncertainty” is a more apt word—at least according to findings from our annual surveys of campus leaders + students: www.insidehighered.com/news/governa...

A group of people sit around a table at the Education Department. The agency’s seal is the background.

Consensus Reached on Workforce Pell, Earnings Test Looms

The committee will now move on to how to hold all programs accountable, and ED officials say they plan to create a level playing field, hinting at an overhaul of gainful employment. https://bit.ly/44q7MKO

#EDUSky #HigherEd #AcademicSky

Beyond Tuition: The Hidden Costs of College and Their Disproportionate Impact | Inside Higher Ed College affordability conversations tend to focus on tuition. But it’s the total cost of attendance (COA) that can catch many students off guard and derail their progress toward a degree. A new deep-d...

The affordability conversation is shifting. How does your institution fare on cost of attendance accuracy and transparency? Come hang Wednesday:

www.insidehighered.com/reports/2025...

ED Designates 23% of Colleges “Lower Earnings” The colleges on the list enroll fewer than 3 percent of undergraduates.

One in 10 college students say they don't know where to find postgraduation outcomes information, per @insidehighered.com data. ED is making that a little easier, by labeling some colleges as "low earnings"

www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...

The NIH Policy Holding Researchers “Hostage” An effort to make NIH-funded research immediately accessible to the public has led to disruption and financial strain for scientists already navigating a precarious funding environment. It also spotli...

Researchers are reporting that some journals like several high-impact titles owned by Elsevier, Wiley and Springer—are charging authors anywhere from $2,000 to more than $10,000 in article processing charges (APCs) to make their work immediately accessible. www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...

An arrow showing a downward trend over a broken piggy bank, a research lab, a lecture hall and a pile of paperwork.

Moody’s Projects a Negative Outlook for Higher Education

Moody’s Ratings projects a difficult year ahead for the sector due to a mix of challenges driven by federal policy risks, rising costs, regulatory changes and lost grant funding. https://bit.ly/4pzLFtt

#EDUSky #AcademicSky #HigherEd

Mistaken Anti-DEI Guidance Stokes Research Fears Under Trump Scholars were outraged after The Excellence in Education Journal told authors to make sure their work didn’t violate Trump’s anti-DEI order. Days later, the journal’s editor-in-chief retracted the gui...

“Obviously, it raises questions about academic freedom and the applicability of an executive order to a journal." @kathrynpalmer.bsky.social www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...

Ind. May Reject Degrees That Don’t Commit to American “Values” Indiana may reject proposed degree programs at public institutions that don’t “cultivate civic responsibility and commitment to the core values of American society.” Earlier this month, the Indiana Co...

? @ryanequinn.bsky.social www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-t...

Jim Ryan Breaks Silence on UVA Resignation The former University of Virginia president who resigned abruptly in June accused the board of being dishonest about the circumstances of his exit and complicit in his ouster.

www.insidehighered.com/news/governm... Turns out, his version of events differs...

Texas A&M Requires Approval for Courses That “Advocate” Certain Ideologies Many faculty members decried the new restrictions on race- and gender-related courses as an assault on academic freedom. Meanwhile, the board also discussed a once-per-semester systemwide course revie...

Couldn't have imagined this 13 years ago when I started at IHE on the faculty beat. Now it's system policy. Lots of practical implications, not to mention the more philosophical: www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...

Deep Dive Report: The Hidden Costs of College Beyond Tuition College affordability conversations tend to focus on tuition. But it’s the total cost of attendance (COA) that can catch many students off guard and derail their progress toward a degree.

www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-t...

Short-Term Credentials Bolster Enrollment Boom Enrollment is up across the board this fall, except for graduate student enrollment, which remained stagnant. The biggest increase was among those pursuing short-term credentials, followed by those ea...

Enrollment up 2% compared to fall 2024. Biggest gains came from students studying for short-term credentials, while the number of students enrolled in associate and bachelor’s degree programs rose 3.1% and 1.2%. Grad enrollment stagnant. More: www.insidehighered.com/news/admissi...

Students Struggle With Surprise Costs, Don’t Know About Help New Student Voice data offers insight into students’ financial vulnerability and their grasp of cost of attendance amid a broader push for cost transparency.

Dr. Mordecai Brownlee good luck on your 71-mile walking journey for CC of Aurora's student emergency fund! Read about some of the why here: www.insidehighered.com/news/student...

www.coloradogives.org/story/eoh21f

For the AI literacy is a life skill file: Within 45 mins, "ChatGPT provided advice on getting drunk, hiding eating habits from loved ones or mixing pills for an overdose." www.insidehighered.com/news/student...

In Fourth Week, Federal 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 a solar en...

www.insidehighered.com/news/busines...

Students Struggle With Surprise Costs, Don’t Know About Help New Student Voice data offers insight into students’ financial vulnerability and their grasp of cost of attendance amid a broader push for cost transparency.

💸 Just 27 percent of students have a clear understanding of the full cost of attendance, and this rate is lower still among students who have seriously considered stopping out.
More from Student Voice: www.insidehighered.com/news/student...

The U.S Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights announced Monday that it's moving to cut off Harvard University’s eligibility to receive federal funding. www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-t...