The Academic Resistance

McMahon Touts First Year in Office; Dems, Students Push Back The Education Department says that in just one year McMahon has secured reforms in higher ed that conservatives have championed for decades. Critics say her work is creating barriers to college access...

Education Secretary Linda McMahon calls her first year a success while gutting ED, slashing MSIs, and threatening loan access. Students and Dems are right: these attacks on higher ed and civil rights are dangerous, and she must go.
www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...

Lawmakers and Universities Push Back on Loan Caps Politicians from both sides of the aisle sharply criticized the Education Department’s narrow interpretation of the legislation, which limits the number of students with access to large federal loans.

Grad students shouldn’t be punished for pursuing the degrees our communities depend on. Capping federal loans while tuition soars just drives borrowers to predatory private debt. We need more public funding, not backdoor austerity in #HigherEd.

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

Oklahoma legislature advances bill that would remove tenure at OU, public universities The Oklahoma legislature advanced a bill Tuesday that would remove the possibility of tenure for OU faculty, limit contract agreements to five years and require each state institute for higher

“Abolishing tenure cripples scientific & creative research...

This sends a strong message that top-tier academics seeking employment at Oklahoma universities should look elsewhere immediately. Why pursue a job here under such a repressive climate?”

— Michael Givel, OU AAUP President

Numerous faculty and AAUP chapters are rejecting the Commission for Public Higher Education, which threatens to introduce unprecedented state politician influence over universities!

Check out this thread of media coverage and AAUP members speaking out against the CPHE 🧵

NIH research grant funding rates plummeted in 2025 Agency acknowledges young investigators are losing out as result of multiyear funding policy imposed by White House

NIH just confirmed it: 2025 grant success rates plummeted, especially for early-career scientists, as Trump’s funding policies choke off new awards. Congress needs to step in now.

www.science.org/content/arti...

Trump secures legal victory on anti-DEI directives The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals let two executive orders stand that target diversity, equity inclusion in the higher education sector and elsewhere.

Trump’s latest court win greenlights his admin’s crusade to gut DEI in higher ed, canceling equity-focused grants and tying federal dollars to chilling DEI litmus tests. Faculty, students, and unions have to organize to defend real equity work on our campuses.

www.highereddive.com/news/trump-s...

“Condemning the destruction of historical sites, archives, institutions of higher learning, & the murder of the people who use them to contribute to a broader understanding of history and the world comes naturally to many who take the discipline seriously.”

— Alan Parkes

Advocates worry funding cuts and shifts in aid could put college further out of reach for lower-income families At a time of rising income inequality, advocates worry that a convergence of developments will make it even harder to go to college for lower-income Americans.

The Trump administration is quietly shutting low-income and student parents out of college so elites can call it “merit.” We should be calling this what it is: class warfare against our students, not “fiscal responsibility." hechingerreport.org/funding-cuts...

The Unconstitutional Crusade Against Civil Rights (opinion) The administration is dismantling the American dream.

Former ED Office for Civil Rights staff warn that Trump’s latest DEI and civil rights attacks aren’t “policy debates” but an unconstitutional bid to dismantle protections for students and communities. Time to organize, protest, and vote!

www.insidehighered.com/opinion/view...

Pentagon says it's cutting ties with 'woke' Harvard, ending military training Amid an ongoing standoff between Harvard and the White House, the Defense Department said it plans to cut ties with the Ivy League — ending military training, fellowships and certificate programs.

“Woke” Harvard is too dangerous for the War Department, but war itself is fine. The Pentagon cutting grad education and fellowships rather than tolerate critical thinking about power and empire on campus says everything about this administration’s priorities. www.npr.org/2026/02/07/g...

In the age of Trump, are U.S. scientists ‘bringing white papers to a gunfight’? An unprecedented assault has forced researchers to rethink their advocacy tactics

Scientists aren’t just writing white papers anymore—they’re suing, organizing, and campaigning to defend research and public health from Trump’s attacks.

www.science.org/content/arti...

Eight Myths about Tenure Myths about tenure help keep not only the public but much of the professoriate from recognizing the harsh reality that tenure, under sustained assault, is in danger of becoming a myth itself.

From the @academemagazine.bsky.social archives: Hank Reichman's "Eight Myths About Tenure."

"Tenure, for nearly a century the strongest bulwark in defense of academic freedom, protecting independent scholarship from shifting political winds & whims of scholarly fashion, is under withering assault."

Hispanic-serving colleges scramble to fill gaps left by federal grant cuts The Trump administration cut more than $350 million in grants to minority-serving institutions (MSIs), including Hispanic-serving institutions, arguing that they were racially discriminatory. Colleges...

The Trump administration just wiped out over $350M in grants for minority-serving colleges, gutting HSI-funded programs that boost first-gen and low-income students into research, STEM, and grad school.
hechingerreport.org/hispanic-ser...

Education Department paid laid-off OCR staff $38M while dismissing most complaints A GAO report found the agency did not document the financial trade-offs associated with its RIFs and cannot prove the cuts improved services.

The Trump Education Department sidelined over half of OCR, shuttered 7 of 12 regional offices, paid laid-off civil rights staff $38M to sit on leave, then tossed 90% of 9,000+ complaints, gutting enforcement while claiming to fight “waste, fraud, and abuse.” www.k12dive.com/news/educati...

ED Releases Rule on Loan Limits for Public Comment The rule is slated to take effect July 1. However, significant pushback is anticipated from Congress and higher ed groups in the weeks to come.

New ED rule would cap grad borrowing at $20.5k/yr (max $100k) for most programs and $50k/yr (max $200k) for a narrow set of “professional” fields- ending Grad PLUS and pushing many toward private loans. Health advocates warn this will worsen provider shortages. www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...

Higher education starts to fight back against attacks on its value and policies The higher education industry has launched several new marketing campaigns in the hope of reclaiming the message about itself in the face of political attacks and public skepticism.

Higher ed is finally pushing back against a decade of “college isn’t worth it” narratives—but ads alone can’t fix a product problem. We need funding, debt relief, better jobs, AND a bolder public defense of universities. hechingerreport.org/value-polici...

US science after a year of Trump: what has been lost and what remains A series of graphics reveals how the Trump administration has sought historic cuts to science and the research workforce.

Trump’s second term is systematically gutting US science: 7,800+ NIH/NSF grants cancelled or frozen, a 20% federal science workforce loss in 2025 alone, and steep proposed cuts to core agencies — damage that could take generations to repair.
www.nature.com/immersive/d4...

Week in review: A look back at higher ed under Trump 2.0’s first year We’re rounding up last week’s stories, from pushback against President Donald Trump’s government in court to the latest congressional budget moves.

Trump’s 2nd term has been a wrecking ball for higher ed: extremist budget cuts proposed, courts stepping in to block attacks on TRIO and equity, and 98% of college leaders reporting deep policy uncertainty.
www.highereddive.com/news/week-in...

"At a time when #universities are being defunded by governments and vilified by #ultra-conservative pundits, defining their value has never been more urgent."
@coimbragroup.bsky.social @iucdubrovnik.bsky.social @clacso.bsky.social @eua.eu @uniworldnews.bsky.social @academicresistance.bsky.social

Tenure Under Threat A spate of firings in the fall revealed just how corroded tenure protections have become. How did we get here?

Tenure isn’t broken, but administrators and politicians are breaking it on purpose. From Wisconsin to Florida to Texas, “post-tenure review,” RIFs, and Palestine exception speech crackdowns are gutting academic freedom while expanding precarity. www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...

Federal policy uncertainty is disrupting planning, college leaders say Concerns loom large about institutional autonomy and long-term financial viability, an American Council on Education survey found.

98% of college leaders say Trump-era federal policy chaos is disrupting campus planning—threatening academic freedom, research, grad access, and international enrollment. This is policy designed to destabilize higher ed.
www.highereddive.com/news/federal...

Trump Administration Drops Appeal in School D.E.I. Lawsuit

🚨 Trump’s Education Dept just dropped its appeal in the lawsuit over its anti-DEI funding threats to schools and colleges—leaving in place a ruling that the policy violated the First Amendment and federal law. @aft.org www.nytimes.com/2026/01/21/u...

Investigations and a Billion-Dollar ‘Shakedown’: How Trump Targeted Higher Education

Trump’s second-term “shakedown” of higher ed isn’t about protecting students; it’s about punishing dissent, chilling academic freedom, and squeezing universities for cash and compliance. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/21/u...

NEH Pours Millions Into FEHE Network, UNC Civic School, More The Trump-overhauled National Endowment for the Humanities announced $75.1 million in grants. Western civilization, great books and other subjects conservatives support won big.

Trump’s reshaped NEH is slashing DEI-linked grants while funneling $10M each to UNC’s SCiLL, UT’s “Great Books”/statecraft majors, and the conservative FEHE network and Koch-style “civics” under a federal seal. @insidehighered.com
www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...

4 Takeaways From Trump’s First Year in Office Higher ed faced upheaval and uncertainty as the president sought to overhaul colleges and universities. Some leaders hope for a more stable year two, but significant changes loom.

Trump’s first year back in office made it clear: nothing is sacred in higher ed anymore—DEI gutted, visas yanked, research funds frozen—yet leaders are still debating caution vs. collective resistance.
www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...

Trump's admissions data collection strains college administrators Universities must report student demographics, grades and test scores by March 18

Colleges are being forced to dig up 7 years of admissions data by race, sex, test scores, GPA and family income—overloading tiny IR offices with a rushed, error‑prone mandate backed by huge fines.
hechingerreport.org/proof-points...

Most US college students now study under laws or policies that restrict what we can teach. This chills free speech, tramples shared governance, & treats universities like enemies of the state. This is a five‑alarm fire for academic freedom & democracy.
​https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php

Higher Education Leaders Discuss Student Impact, Future Amid Federal Policy Changes Higher education leaders are warning that proposed federal policy changes could create new barriers for students, particularly women and those from marginalized communities, as the Trump administratio...

Higher ed leaders are sounding the alarm: federal policy shifts risk deepening inequality for women and low-income students unless campuses mobilize now to protect access, aid, and student support.
www.theeduledger.com/demographics...

Senate advances bills rejecting Trump’s efforts to slash research funding The White House sought cuts of 40% or more at some agencies, but lawmakers from both parties are pushing to hold science spending relatively steady.

The U.S. Senate just advanced bipartisan bills rejecting Trump’s massive cuts to science funding. Instead of $155B, Senate plans would spend $188.3B on research — backing up NSF, NIH, and basic science. A win for universities, students, and public health. www.highereddive.com/news/senate-...

ED Panel Signs Off on New Earnings Test One committee member abstained from the final vote, saying it was made clear that blocking consensus could put protections for students in undergraduate certificates at risk.

ED’s new “single earnings test” is a massive shift in higher ed accountability: programs whose grads don’t out-earn HS grads can lose federal loans after two failing years, and Pell access too, potentially affecting 650k students and nearly $1B in grants. www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...