Compiled by SUSAN JONES

The Trump administration sent letters to leaders at nine universities this week encouraging them to sign a compact committing their schools to adopt the president’s policy agenda for higher education in exchange for preferential access to federal funds.

The schools are Vanderbilt University, the University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth College, the University of Southern California, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Brown University, the University of Texas, the University of Arizona and the University of Virginia.

Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom warned in a post on X that California universities that “bend to the will of Donald Trump and sign this insane ‘compact’ will lose billions in state funding — IMMEDIATELY.”

Oct. 1

• The federal government shutdown will furlough approximately 87% of the Education Department’s workforce and halt investigations into civil rights complaints at schools and universities, according to the department's contingency plan. New federal grant awards will also cease, though previously disbursed funding will continue flowing to institutions.

• Only four people remain on an advisory committee for the National Endowment for the Humanities after the Trump administration fired a majority of the members, The Washington Post reported. The remaining members were all appointed by President Trump. Made up of 26 people, the National Council on the Humanities gives input to the NEH chair on grant-making, policy and funding decisions.

Sept. 30:

• A federal judge ruled that the Trump administration used the threat of deportations to silence foreign students and scholars, unlawfully infringing on their free-speech rights as part of an effort to silence pro-Palestinian campus protests. In his ruling, Judge William G. Young called the crackdown a “truly scandalous and unconstitutional suppression of free speech.”

• Washington University in St. Louis has laid off 316 staffers and eliminated another 198 unfilled positions since March, Chancellor Andrew Martin said in a community message Tuesday. Leaders made the cuts to the private university’s main campus as well as to its medical center. In all, the reductions are expected to save about $52 million annually, Martin said. The chancellor cited several budget pressures driving the cuts, including “drastic reductions in federal research funding,” the changing needs of students, and “ineffective processes and redundancies in the way we operate,” Higher Ed Dive reported. 

Sept. 29:

• Harvard University could lose access to all federal grants and contracts under proceedings initiated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The agency’s Office for Civil Rights has referred the university for suspension and debarment, the process by which the agency can cut off entities from federal grants and contracts if it determines that wrongdoing renders them “not responsible enough to do business” with the government.

• The National Institutes of Health temporarily restored the University of California system’s research funding it abruptly revoked under President Donald Trump, officials from the U.S. Department of Justice said in court filings this week. A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction last month ordering NIH, along with the U.S. departments of Defense and Transportation, to reinstate the canceled funding for the university system and its researchers while a related lawsuit proceeds. 

• The University of Chicago, announced it is selling the Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP) as the institution confronts heavy debt and weaker-than-expected endowment returns, the University Herald reported. Founded in 1960 by Chicago professors, the CRSP was central to research that helped win the 2013 Nobel Prize in economics. Proceeds from the $375 million sale will be added to the university's endowment and invested to boost returns, a university spokesman said.

Sept. 26: The California State University is facing a probe from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over antisemitism-related allegations, according to an email from Chancellor Mildred García to the system’s 23 campuses. 

Sept. 24:

• A new poll from researchers at Vanderbilt University found 78% of Americans surveyed said a college education is somewhat or very important to a young person’s success. Despite increasing polarization around higher ed, a significant majority of both Democrats and Republicans — 87% and 68%, respectively — said a college education was at least somewhat important. Find full poll results on Higher Ed Dive.

• The U.S. Department of Education rolled out the 2026-27 Free Application for Federal Student Aid to all students, about a week before the congressionally mandated deadline. Education Department officials said this was “earliest launch in the program’s history.” The new form comes with several updates, including a redesigned process for inviting parents or other contributors to add information to the application and faster account verification for students and parents, according to the agency. The FAFSA has been significantly delayed the past two years.

• A district court judge ordered the University of South Dakota to reinstate Michael Hook, a tenured professor of art who was put on leave with an “intent to terminate” after he posted comments on his personal Facebook page about Charlie Kirk, Inside Higher Education reported. “The court concludes that Hook spoke as a citizen and his speech was on a matter of public concern,” District Court Judge Karen Schreier wrote. “Defendants note that Hook’s Facebook page identified himself as a professor at the University of South Dakota … but this alone does not show that a post made on his personal Facebook account is speech that arises from Hook’s duties as a professor.”

Sept. 22:

• The American Association of University Professors released a scathing report accusing the Trump administration of using civil rights law to undermine academic freedom and institutional autonomy at colleges and universities nationwide. The report, "On Title VI, Discrimination, and Academic Freedom," condemns what it calls the administration's "weaponization" of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to target campus speech and diversity programs rather than combat actual discrimination.

• Brown University is laying off 48 employees and eliminating 55 vacant positions as part of a broader effort to shave $30 million off its budget, top leaders at the Ivy League institution announced. Brown leaders said the financial impact of federal policy shifts — estimated to be $30 million in fiscal year 2026 — is much less than originally feared. Earlier, they estimated they could see a hit above $100 million. That’s partly because Brown struck a deal with the Trump administration to give $50 million to support workforce development in Rhode Island. In exchange, the government restored federal research grants it had suspended over claims the university hadn’t done enough to prevent campus antisemitism. 

• Tim Bakken, The longest-ever serving law professor at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point is suing the elite Army institution, accusing it of "censoring and suppressing speech on the basis of its content and viewpoint." The lawsuit alleges that West Point issued an "Academic Engagement Policy" on Feb. 13 which requires faculty to get prior approval before speaking publicly or publishing in an official capacity, according to Reuters. When Bakken argued it was unconstitutional, a deputy department head "turned red, pounded the table, and admonished that (Bakken) must obey the regulation," according to the complaint.

• Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has donated $70 million to the UNCF, as the nation’s largest private provider of scholarships to minority students works to raise $1 billion to strengthen all 37 of its historically Black colleges and universities, the Associated Press reported.

• A federal judge ordered the National Institutes of Health to temporarily restore the research grant funding it abruptly cut from UCLA under President Donald Trump. The order was part of a broader preliminary injunction from U.S. District Judge Rita Lin that also directed the U.S. departments of Defense, Transportation, and Health and Human Services to reinstate all grants they had cut from University of California researchers en masse. She further barred them from making future blanket cuts against the system while an ongoing class-action lawsuit unfolds.

• Rob Walton, the former chairman of Walmart and son of its founder, Sam Walton, has donated $115 million to Arizona State University — the largest gift in the institution’s history. The gift will establish the Rob Walton School of Conservation Futures, set to launch in late 2025. The school will initially offer training programs and certificates for high school students, working learners and corporate executives to build conservation skills worldwide. It will eventually offer graduate and undergraduate degrees and work with employers to create pathways into the conservation workforce, according to ASU.

Sept. 19:

• The U.S. Department of Education gave Harvard University 20 days to provide “documents and information” on its undergraduate admissions process as part of an Office of Civil Rights investigation, threatening its access to federal student aid if it did not comply. The department alleged Harvard has refused “OCR’s repeated requests for data,” but it did not publicly specify what documentation it is requiring of the Ivy League institution, according to Higher Ed Dive.

• Southern Oregon University will eliminate 10 bachelor’s degrees, 12 minors and one graduate program in the face of long-term structural budget deficits after a vote by the institution’s board. The public university will also lay off 18 employees and cut roughly three dozen other jobs through retirements, the elimination of vacant positions and other methods. The cuts are intended to stabilize Southern Oregon following years “marked by unprecedented fiscal crises,” according to the plan approved by trustees in a 7-2 vote.

Sept. 18: The University of Michigan will not fire or discipline the handful of faculty accused of making offensive or cruel comments about Charlie Kirk after the conservative influencer's killing, according to WKAR. Interim President Domenico Grasso made the announcement at a meeting of the UM Board of Regents.“Silencing voices is anathema to a great university like ours," Grasso said. "If we abandon free speech on our campuses, we risk abandoning it for our nation."