Higher education

Higher education

Here's an idea for overhauling the mess that is money in college sports: For every dollar that a university athletic department spends on coaching salaries fatter than a duke's inheritance, or locker rooms as luxurious as Hadrian's villa, a dollar should go toward academic funding-to faculty salaries, library maintenance, and other necessities that benefit all students, athletes included. Such an arrangement might help reform a truly broken system, which demands compulsive, destructive overspending-on coaching, facilities, and more-in a cycle of one-upsmanship.

During National Transfer Student Week, I had the opportunity to present my dissertation findings. I was eager to share insights and connect with others doing similar work. Yet my excitement quickly gave way to disappointment: Multiple organizations were hosting overlapping events. Would anyone attend my session if there were other opportunities? That moment clarified, for me, a larger truth about the transfer ecosystem.

In a letter to system chancellors Tuesday, University of California system president James Milliken said he would not end financial support for hiring postdoctoral fellows out of the UC President's Postdoctoral Fellowship Program. A system spokesperson told Inside Higher Ed earlier this month that the UC office had decided to halt its $85,000 per fellow, per year, hiring incentives beginning with fellows hired as full-time faculty after summer 2025.

Students at the University of Staffordshire have said they feel robbed of knowledge and enjoyment after a course they hoped would launch their digital careers turned out to be taught in large part by AI. James and Owen were among 41 students who took a coding module at Staffordshire last year, hoping to change careers through a government-funded apprenticeship programme designed to help them become cybersecurity experts or software engineers.

Christine Lovely, vice president and chief human resources officer, is leaving Cornell to become the inaugural vice chancellor for campus human resources and chief people officer at the University of California, Los Angeles. Lovely's last day at Cornell will be Dec. 15. Sean Moeller, associate vice president for human resources, will take over as interim vice president and chief human resources officer.

Larry Summers, former treasury secretary, former president of Harvard University, former head of the National Economic Council, is once again embroiled in controversy. Of course, with Summers, "embroiled in controversy" doesn't tell you enough. Summers appears to be caught in an eternal battle between his mouth and his d*ck to see which can produce the most fireable offense. This time, the two forces have aligned in a series of newly released e-mails between Summers and his longtime friend, confidant, and sexual harassment "wingman," Jeffrey Epstein.

Investigators at San Jose State University are calling in the FBI about graffiti on campus threatening a mass shooting. The university doesn't believe there's a credible threat but given what's happened lately, students are understandably alarmed. San Jose State's provost says someone found the graffiti Tuesday in an academic building. It included antisemitic and racist slurs. The campus police department is trying to identify the person who made the graffiti. There will be extra officers on campus in the coming days.

The Trump administration has abruptly shuttered a 40-year-old college access program at UC Berkeley one that has helped thousands of first-generation, low-income students from the East Bay to attend college over equity and inclusion staff training. Trump officials canceled the $836,000 annual grant for Cal's Educational Talent Search at a time when many of the program's students are applying for college.

The union and the college made little progress on negotiating a contract until more than 200 faculty went on strike earlier this month; the union agreed to pause the strike during subsequent contract negotiations. When the two parties failed to reach a tentative agreement after hours of negotiations last week, the union threatened to go back on strike Monday.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic spread to the U.S. in 2020, college leaders and policymakers have raised questions about the academic preparation of today's students. College readiness metrics in math and English have fallen nationally, and research shows that many students lack executive functioning skills as well as effective study habits. Though they may be underprepared for college courses, most students say they're motivated in college by grades or the pursuit of knowledge.

Student loan advocates and borrower protection groups across the country have spent much of the last five months preparing for a series of big changes Congress laid out regarding the student loan system. From limiting the amount students and families can borrow to cutting the number of repayment plans they'll have to choose from, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act is one of the more significant overhauls to federal student aid in decades.

West Virginia and coach Rich Rodriguez secured a massive commitment in the 2026 class Tuesday from four-star offensive tackle Kevin Brown, who will land as the Mountaineers' highest-ranked signee in at least 15 years. Brown, No. 78 in the 2026 SCNEXT 300, is a 6-foot-5, 265-pound prospect from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He previously spent more than a year committed to Penn State's incoming recruiting class before reopening his process following the firing of coach James Franklin last month.

Students who fail math are much likelier to drop out than students who don't, and tutors help students pass. Librarians are crucial for students to learn to do research, especially in the age of AI. Academic advisers help students avoid wasting time on courses that won't help them. Financial aid staffers enable students to get the money they need to go to college. They're all helpful, and they're all important.

As directors of career centers, our job is to spot the skills tomorrow's leaders will need and to design ways to help them build those skills now. At the top of that list is the ability to navigate change and to help others do the same. It's not a "nice-to-have" skill anymore; it's part of how one leads, collaborates and makes their own work sustainable.

Harvard University's endowment has been quietly and massively increasing its Bitcoin holdings. The university bought more than 6.8 million shares of BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) as of September 30. The investment is valued at $442.8 million. This marks a 257% increase from Harvard's previous holding of 1.9 million shares, worth $116.6 million. The move makes IBIT Harvard's largest publicly disclosed position. The Bitcoin ETF now represents just under 1% of total endowment assets.

In 1985, President Ronald Reagan appointed me as a federal judge. I was 38 years old. At the time, I looked forward to serving for the rest of my life. However, I resigned Friday, relinquishing that lifetime appointment and giving up the opportunity for public service that I have loved. My reason is simple: I no longer can bear to be restrained by what judges can say publicly or do outside the courtroom.

As my son prepares to take a gap year (and my daughter finishes first-year university after taking a year's break), I'm realising just how strongly gap years are associated with travel. Yet, for many school leavers contemplating a year away from study, travel is either well down the list of options, only a small part of their next 12 to 15 months, or not on the agenda at all.

Freshers' week, Oxford University, early October. A time for the heart to hammer with excitement, when horizons are broadened inexorably. For minimal sleep and maximum fun. And for one or two tall stories, a bit of personal reinvention, perhaps. Take one new law student at Brasenose College, because he can certainly spin a few yarns. About the time, for example, he was coached by Yaya Toure at the Tottenham academy.

At West Valley College in Saratoga, the College of Adaptive Arts (CAA) is filling this gap with a sustainable model of inclusive, lifelong higher education. More than 270 students take college-style courses - on campus and remotely - in subjects ranging from theater and computer coding to astronomy and photography. Enrollment has doubled in five years, proof of both success and demand.

means students from a majority of American families, including middle-class families earning above the national median household income of $87,730, can attend Hopkins at no expense.

The small college in Craftsbury Common, Vt., will cease operations in May due to "persistent financial and enrollment challenges," according to a statement posted on its website. "We understand that this news is difficult and deeply personal for every member of our community. Sterling College has always been more than a place of learning; it has been a home where curiosity, creativity, and compassion thrived," officials wrote in the closure announcement.

The University of Pennsylvania has launched Climate and Environment Journalism: Truth-Telling in the Trump Era through its English department and American Conservatism From Taft to Trump for political science students. The New School's Donald Trump as History module will aim to explore the "Trump phenomenon" and how it alters views of U.S. history, while the University of Washington offers a special Trump in the World module.

The California State University system launched a direct admissions pilot last year, offering qualifying high school seniors at school districts in Riverside County admission to 10 of its institutions. The program turned out to be an unqualified success: The number of graduates from the district who enrolled at a CSU campus this fall jumped 9 percent.

When I first began teaching Islam, there was no road map. In 2001, I was a visiting assistant professor of Islamic and Middle Eastern studies at the University of Iowa-the first full-time professor of Islam in the history of the state. I was in my 20s, still finishing my dissertation, when the attacks of Sept. 11 unfolded. Suddenly, I found myself trying to explain a 1,400-year-old religion to students who had watched the Twin Towers fall on live television.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- A suspect has been arrested in the shooting of college football coach John Beam, who was featured in the Netflix show "Last Chance U" and remains in critical condition after being shot on the school's campus, the Oakland Police Department and other authorities said Friday. Few other details were available. It was the second time in two days there was a shooting at a school in Oakland. Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee described Beam as a "giant" and a mentor, educator and lifeline for young people. "For over 40 years, he has shaped leaders on and off the field, and our community is shaken alongside his family," Lee said.

setting in motion significant changes in student borrowing rules that will have huge implications for students, institutions and the economy. Among the negotiated points were directives in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act designed to address the $1.8 trillion student debt crisis by canceling Grad PLUS loans-used by many students to pay for grad school-and putting caps on the amount of money students can borrow: $200,000 for professional degrees, capped at $50,000 annually, and $100,000 for graduate programs, limited to $20,500 a year.