Several colleges join business groups in challenging new H-1B visa eligibility restrictions
INSIDE HIGHER ED — Colleges joined with major business and industry groups in filing a lawsuit challenging new administration rules that would narrow the eligibility requirements for H-1B skilled worker visas and increase the wages employers would have to pay visa holders.
Read More about Several colleges join business groups in challenging new H-1B visa eligibility restrictionsUS government launches investigation into international student work program
INSIDE HIGHER ED — Officials announced that they had arrested 15 international students who claimed to be employed by companies that don’t exist. The arrests resulted from an ongoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigation, termed Operation OPTical Illusion, targeting fraudulent use of the optional practical training program.
Read More about US government launches investigation into international student work programUS Department of Education releases data on first-year graduate earnings by degree program
INSIDE HIGHER ED — College graduates with an associate’s degree in nursing from Santa Rosa Junior College in California make more money than graduates from some programs at Harvard University, a new report from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce shows.
Read More about US Department of Education releases data on first-year graduate earnings by degree programCollege promise programs see drop in funding due to state budget cuts
INSIDE HIGHER ED — College promise programs have increased in popularity in recent years. Now, amid a pandemic and a recession, they might be on the chopping block. Some states are making, or at least predicting, budget cuts in the billions, some of which will have to come from higher education systems.
Read More about College promise programs see drop in funding due to state budget cutsUS Justice Department sues Yale University over admission policies
POLITICO — The Justice Department claims that Yale’s admissions process has for decades run afoul of federal civil rights laws that outlaw discrimination on the basis of race. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Connecticut, says Yale’s admissions process favors Black and Hispanic applicants at the expense of their Asian and white counterparts.
Read More about US Justice Department sues Yale University over admission policiesStudy: Black borrowers twice as likely to never be able to pay off student loan debt
INSIDE HIGHER ED — Black student loan borrowers are twice as likely as white borrowers to be projected to never be able to pay off their student loan debt, a result of systemic inequities in society, finds a study by the JPMorgan Chase Institute. About 13 percent of Black borrowers are projected to never be able to pay off debt.
Read More about Study: Black borrowers twice as likely to never be able to pay off student loan debtColleges react to Executive Order banning federal funding for diversity training
THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION — The order has colleges nationwide scrambling to respond, or in some cases wondering how. Some have abruptly postponed planned events, while others wait for clarity on what the order means for them. A few have fought back, and others have decided to lie low.
Read More about Colleges react to Executive Order banning federal funding for diversity trainingSome higher education institutions suspend or cancel diversity programs due to Executive Order
INSIDE HIGHER ED — Two campuses are halting diversity efforts in relation to the White House’s recent executive order against “divisive concepts” in federally funded programs.
Read More about Some higher education institutions suspend or cancel diversity programs due to Executive OrderA look at efforts to include innovation and entrepreneurial achievement as possible faculty qualifications for tenure and promotion
INSIDE HIGHER ED — Academics from 67 universities nationally have unanimously voted to approve a set of recommendations for recognizing innovation and entrepreneurial achievements among the criteria for higher education faculty promotion and tenure. The proposal is to place innovation and entrepreneurship within the prongs.
Read More about A look at efforts to include innovation and entrepreneurial achievement as possible faculty qualifications for tenure and promotionHigher education groups request federal aid for colleges in next stimulus package
INSIDE HIGHER ED — The coronavirus pandemic has taken an even deeper financial toll on colleges and universities than expected, said associations representing two- and four-year institutions. In a letter to House of Representatives leaders, the groups nearly tripled the amount of help they say is needed from Congress in another aid package, to at least $120 billion.
Read More about Higher education groups request federal aid for colleges in next stimulus package