APLU In The News

Major higher education associations are calling on congressional lawmakers to advance the College Transparency Act, which would lift a ban on the federal government collecting student-level data.

Higher ed associations, public health organizations and other groups and individuals pummeled the White House’s proposed rule that would, among other things, give political appointees sweeping control over federal grant making. Members of Congress have spoken out against it, and lawyers are threatening lawsuits.

A recent change to a House bill that funds the Education Department could allow master’s- and doctoral-level nursing programs access to higher levels of federal student borrowing.

The Trump administration finalized regulations Thursday that will put in place new loan limits for postbaccalaureate degree programs, which could potentially limit college access for hundreds of thousands of students and weaken pipelines for several high-demand health-care professions, Inside Higher Ed reports. Press

“The Trump administration’s decision to fire the entire board that oversees the National Science Foundation is another blow to American science that threatens the country’s global leadership, multiple higher ed and research advocacy groups warned, as did ousted board members,” Inside Higher Ed reports.

“Higher education experts and college access advocates are urging Congress to set aside nearly $40 billion in funding for the Pell Grant program this upcoming fiscal year, as the Congressional Budget Office projects the need-based scholarship will face a historic multibillion-dollar shortfall,” Inside Higher Ed reports.

The halfway point of the federal fiscal year looms at month’s end, yet the National Institutes of Health has only obligated around 15 percent of the estimated $38 billion it has to distribute in grants and contracts to universities and other research institutions, Inside Higher Ed reports.

The first year of the second Trump administration inspired a bonanza of federal lobbying across sectors. Higher education was no exception. Parts of the sector — including major research universities and some of the wealthiest liberal-arts colleges — increased their spending on outside lobbying firms by millions of dollars, in aggregate, between 2024 and 2025.…