Becca Carballo

Becca Carballo

@beccacarballo.bsky.social

Covering higher education for Politico. Past lives: The New York Times, Houston Chronicle

163 Followers 165 Following 15 Posts Joined Nov 2024
6 months ago
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Trump and RFK Jr. are upending cancer research. They're cutting patients off from clinical trials and killing so many kids' only hope for a cure.

I’m fighting to restore funding, but I can't restore lost time. FIRE RFK Jr. NOW.

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6 months ago
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"You cannot put into words the gravity, the tragedy, or the absolute pain of this situation."

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey speaks at a press conference for shooting at Annunciation Catholic School

www.msnbc.com/top-stories/...

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6 months ago
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CDC union demands Trump officials condemn vaccine disinformation after shooting CDC staff have endured months of "vilification" and condemnation would help prevent more violence against scientists, union says.

CDC union demands Trump officials condemn disinformation after shooting

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7 months ago

This is right. It’s of little solace that states have greater legal protections than DC for the simple fact that (1) this distinction apparently doesn’t matter at all to the Trump admin and (2) seizing control of the capital is, even if legally a lighter lift, categorically different.

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8 months ago
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Republican plans to cap student borrowing could shatter an everyday profession One GOP senator said anyone paying more than $100K to go to med school is "making a huge mistake." But the median cost of attending one is more than double that for the class of 2025.

A series of changes to long-running federal student loan programs tucked into the Republican tax plan has doctors panicked and struggling to find GOP allies.

My latest: www.politico.com/news/2025/06...

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9 months ago

I'm continuing to track developments around these announcements. If you have ever served on a university board or have experience working in university leadership in a red a state — I would love to hear your thoughts on Secretary Rubio's announcement.

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9 months ago
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Rubio’s visa crunch has big consequences for public universities Public institutions in Arizona, California, Illinois, Michigan and Texas rank among the top destinations for international students.

First, the State Department stopped interviewing applicants for student visas to the U.S. Then Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that he’d revoke visas for Chinese students working in “critical fields” or with Communist Party ties.

www.politico.com/news/2025/05...

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10 months ago
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Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Reforms Accreditation to Strengthen Higher Education HOLDING ACCREDITORS ACCOUNTABLE: Today, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order to overhaul the higher education accreditation system,

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We will hopefully have more on this and in much more detail in the coming days, but let’s talk about this exec order on accreditation for a minute.
#EduSky

www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/...

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10 months ago
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Will the SAVE Act make it harder for married women to vote? We ask legal experts Legal experts say states could help married women who have changed their last names by accepting documents like a legal decree or a marriage certificate, but it might not fix the issue for all.

Legal experts say states could help married women who have changed their last names by accepting documents like a legal decree or a marriage certificate, but it might not fix the issue for all.

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11 months ago
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The Small Business Administration faces huge staff cuts as Trump hands it a $1.6 trillion student loan portfolio. ESB's Michael Negron warns that w/o the right resources, the plan could create more problems than it solves for 43M borrowers. @beccacarballo.bsky.social www.politico.com/news/2025/03...

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11 months ago
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11 months ago
POLITICO Pro: Federal Student Aid calls back some workers

Roughly 570 employees have left FSA, through RIFs and other offers to encourage people to leave. But the agency is starting to bring a handful of people back

My latest
subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2025...

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11 months ago
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POLITICO Pro: A day after mass firing at Education Department, FAFSA troubles start Those within the agency worry about how quickly issues will be resolved after a reduction in force plan goes into effect.

One day after the Education Department fired nearly half its employees, most students and parents across the country couldn’t access the agency’s Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

72 employees spent hours on a
call to try and fix the form

subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2025...

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1 year ago
POLITICO Pro: Education Department shrinks staff that fields student aid complaints The agency in February fired eight out of 21 people who handled complaints submitted online.

ED slashed its team that handle student aid complaints and is in the process of making it more difficult to submit a grievance online.

The "submit a complaint" button will be changed to "submit feedback" and moved to the bottom of the webpage.

subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2025...

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1 year ago

If you work at an university/organization that has experienced some sort of disruption from this feel free to DM me here or reach me at rcarballo@politico.com

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1 year ago
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POLITICO Pro: Trump administration targets thousands of programs in funding freeze A new memo from the Office of Management and Budget reveals the potential scope of the Trump administration's plans to freeze federal funding.

Pell is listed in this 52-page memo to be reviewed by the dept. subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2025...

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1 year ago
POLITICO Pro: Pell Grants, direct loans spared in federal aid freeze, Education Department says

There are a lot of unanswered questions around this federal aid freeze. Education Department officials are telling us that federal student loans and Pell Grants shouldn't be affected. But...

subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2025...

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1 year ago
POLITICO Pro: House Republicans target student loan programs

House Republicans are mulling policies that would either repeal or significantly narrow various student loan programs. The deets:

subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2025...

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1 year ago

Yes, I know all about the prospective names and breeds

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1 year ago

I cannot take a team seriously that calls themselves Nuggets. It’s too cute.

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1 year ago
POLITICO Pro: FAFSA deadline bill heads to president's desk

The FAFSA deadline bill, which mandates an Oct. 1 launch date, heads to the President’s desk

subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2024...

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1 year ago

President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general is trying to build support with meetings on Capitol Hill.

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1 year ago

Like a lot of school districts across the country, Fort Worth ISD is facing declining enrollment, which (probably) means closing schools. I sat in on the task force that's figuring out how that's going work.

www.star-telegram.com/news/local/e...

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1 year ago
POLITICO Pro: Biden administration pushes through repayment plan rule

This one is for the Ed policy ppl:

The Education Department, in a last ditch effort to provide lower monthly payments to student loan borrowers, will publish a rule Friday that brings back some income-related repayment plans.

subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2024...

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