Compiled by SUSAN JONES

The Trump administration has finalized regulations  that will put in place new loan limits for graduate and other postbaccalareute degrees as well as make changes to how students repay their loans.

The finalized rule maintains the department’s limited definition of “professional.” This means that access to the highest amount of federal loans — $50,000 per year and $200,000 in total — will be limited to 11 degree programs: pharmacy, dentistry, veterinary medicine, chiropractic, law, medicine, optometry, osteopathic medicine, podiatry, theology and clinical psychology.

Students in other graduate programs that are not deemed professional — such as nursing and social work — will only have access to $20,500 per year and $100,000 in total.

Current borrowers will be exempted from the limits for the next three years as long as they remain enrolled, according to the Education Department.

Administration officials contend that reducing the amount of money that students can borrow will force universities to lower tuition.

Congress passed the loan caps last summer as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. That legislation eliminated the 20-year-old federal Grad PLUS loan program, which provided potentially tens of thousands of dollars in additional loans to graduate students to cover room, board and other expenses.

Penn State cuts?

The Post-Gazette reported in April that Penn State University could slash 12% of its undergraduate academic programs this fall if school leaders follow through with preliminary recommendations to eliminate low-demand offerings.

Forty-nine of Penn State’s 403 baccalaureate and associate degree programs are potentially on the chopping block after a months-long review of the university’s academic programs and portfolio, officials shared this month.

“Higher education is changing, and we must rise to the occasion,” Penn State Provost Fotis Sotiropoulos said in a statement. “A full accounting of our academic offerings, and a commitment to an ongoing cycle of program reviews moving forward, are critical parts of the work we all must do to position our students, and Penn State, for long-term success.”

APRIL 29

Arizona State University soft launched a web app earlier this month that allows anyone, for $5 per month, to create an apparently unlimited number of customized “learning modules” using artificial intelligence, Inside Higher Ed reported. The AI chatbot, called Atom, uses online instructional materials from ASU professors to create a course that’s tailored to the goals, interests and skill level of the user.

APRIL 28

A cut of more than 10 percent in state support to the state system of higher education has led to a hiring freeze at the University of Maryland at College Park, according to The Diamondback, the campus newspaper. As many as 150 positions could be cut via the elimination of vacant positions, retirements, or layoffs.

APRIL 27

• A federal judge paused his earlier order directing the University of Pennsylvania to turn over extensive data on Jewish employees to the Trump administration. aThe stay, issued by U.S. District Judge Gerald Pappert, grants Penn a reprieve while the university appeals Pappert’s March decision giving the university until May 1 to comply with the data request. 

• The Trump administration has fired the entire National Science Board of more than 20 members. The board, created in 1950, provided guidance to the National Science Foundation.

• The University of Wisconsin—Madison is launching a new standalone college that will be known as the College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence, the university announced. The move represents the first time in 43 years that UW—Madison has established a new academic division.

APRIL 24

• East Carolina University plans to discontinue 44 undergraduate and graduate programs “that aren’t meeting expectations” after an internal review of its portfolio, the public institution said in a message to the community. The credentials slated for elimination, including majors, minors and certificates, were in the bottom 10% for enrollment and graduate rates at ECU.

• DACA status alone is not enough to shield recipients from being deported, a three-judge panel at the Board of Immigration Appeals has ruled. The April 24 decision was handed down by an administrative court housed within the Trump administration’s Department of Justice, as opposed to being part of the independent judicial branch of government.

• One in 10 faculty members working in states that restrict academic speech are seeking jobs out of state, according to survey data released this week. Six percent reported they are trying to leave academia altogether. The new data on relocating researchers underpins anecdotal stories about faculty members fleeing red states in search of greater academic freedom. Researchers with Ithaka S+R, a nonprofit higher education consultancy, surveyed 4,003 researchers at U.S. four-year colleges and universities via email about a slate of topics, but their first look at the data is focused on academic freedom in research.

APRIL 21

Michael and Susan Dell announced that they have committed $750 million to the University of Texas at Austin that will fund the development of a new medical center and research campus. The billionaire CEO told CNBC that the new medical center, which will include a hospital and research facility, will use artificial intelligence and advanced computing to deliver earlier and more precise treatment for patients.

APRIL 20

• The Department of Education issued a proposal for a new accountability system that it claims will “break the cycle of low return on investment for students and taxpayers.” Under the system, institutions would have to show that graduates from their undergraduate degree programs earn more per year than a typical high school graduate. Programs that fail on this metric would lose access to federal student loans and possibly Pell Grants, the department stated.

• The U.S. Department of Justice has extended the deadline for K-12 schools, colleges and universities, and other public institutions to comply with a new regulation that requires them to make digital content accessible to people with disabilities. The extension was outlined in an “interim final rule” the DOJ issued on April 20. The new deadline is April 26, 2027. In explaining the rationale behind its decision, the DOJ stated that it determined the deadlines would have been “infeasible and unfair” because technology — including generative AI — is not yet capable of reliably making materials accessible.

Susan Jones is editor of the University Times. Reach her at suejones@pitt.edu or 724-244-4042.

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