Universities and Higher Education

Topic overview

Coverage of major developments across universities and higher education, including college and university leadership, admissions and enrollment, tuition and finance, faculty and labor issues, student life, rankings, regulation, and the broader role of higher education in society.

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Jul 10, 2026University Business

Atlanta nonprofit helps foster youth start college at HBCUs with furnished dorm rooms

An Atlanta nonprofit, Move-In Day Mafia, helps students aging out of foster care start college at HBCUs by providing furnished dorm rooms and move-in support. The effort targets a key transition point when students lack family resources to cover basic setup costs and logistics. Small, upfront interventions at move-in can prevent attrition among foster youth and strengthen HBCU student success outcomes.

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Jul 10, 2026University Business

New faces, planned farewells and one stunning U-turn

Boise State and Clemson selected new, experienced academic leaders for top roles. Michigan State's president reversed course after previously signaling governance instability and will remain in office. Presidential stability or disruption quickly translates into fundraising capacity, talent retention, and the pace of major institutional decisions.

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Jul 10, 2026Higher Ed Dive

Temple University lays off 40 employees as it tackles deficit

Temple University is laying off 40 employees as it works to close a budget deficit. The cuts mark a second consecutive year of workforce reductions even as the university reports recent enrollment gains. Repeated layoffs at a large public urban university show how financial stress is reshaping staffing and services even when enrollment starts to recover.

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Jul 9, 2026Higher Ed Dive

California community college settles with professor who sued over DEI policy

Bakersfield College settled with professor Daymon Johnson and agreed it will not require him to use diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility principles in his teaching or scholarship. The agreement resolves his lawsuit challenging the college's DEIA-related expectations. The deal signals that DEI implementation is shifting from broad institutional commitments toward stricter limits on what public colleges can require from faculty.

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Jul 9, 2026University Business

Why Shaw University is launching a new AI degree — in its divinity school

Shaw University will launch a doctoral program in Artificial Intelligence and Moral Agency within its divinity school next spring, positioning it as the first such program among HBCUs. The curriculum will center ethical evaluation of AI, including AI literacy, algorithmic bias, privacy, and transparency. It signals a shift from treating AI ethics as an add-on to making it a standalone doctoral pathway that can broaden who leads AI oversight in society.

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Jul 9, 2026University Business

Ohio GOP lawmakers’ university civics centers aren’t popular. They want to require attendance.

Ohio Republican lawmakers created university civics centers as part of a higher education overhaul, but student participation has lagged and campus opposition has persisted, particularly at Ohio State. Lawmakers are now weighing steps that would make student attendance mandatory, drawing criticism that the centers function as political messaging rather than education. Mandated attendance would convert a disputed civics initiative into a coercive state policy that tests the boundary between public oversight and academic independence.

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