Trump's higher ed shakeup starts a new semester

Trump's higher ed shakeup starts a new semester. Add Axios as your preferred source to.

Key points

• Earlier this month, the Pentagon ordered 30 institutions to audit their foreign collaboration by August 31 to maintain federal research funding, citing national security.
• Under the rule, effective September 15, student admission will be capped at four years, rather than the previous "duration of status" policy.
• The Department of Education additionally unveiled last month new probes into five medical schools for "alleged racial discrimination in admissions."
• The Education Department additionally proposed a new framework intended to "break up entrenched accreditation monopolies" and speed review for new accreditors.
• Zoom out: The administration is additionally changing how long international students can stay in the U.S., sparking a court challenge.

State of play: The all-of-government squeeze on higher education continues a 19-month battle that has brought scrutiny of international collaboration, threats to research funding, litigation and feasible accreditation overhauls.

"It was an earthquake in January of 2025, " notes Stuart Shapiro, the dean of Rutgers' School of Planning and Public Policy who worked in the Office of Management and Budget. "The relationship between government and academia, which really has its birth in the post-World War II era, has never seen a shakeup like that since then." "We're still living with that, " he notes.

After the administration's cuts and freezes last year rocked research, universities and advocates are raising red flags regarding an OMB proposal to overhaul federal grant-making.

For context, the proposed rule would require political appointees to review grant requests and create it easier to terminate those that don't align with agency priorities.

OMB argued that federal grants have promoted "a 'woke' policy agenda" and require "more oversight."

Worth noting: The Senate's bipartisan stopgap measure would temporarily block the rule. It critics warn would undermine merit, innovation and international collaboration.

"The tragedy of back to school in 2026 is that there will be fewer graduate students and fewer scientists pursuing cures for diseases because of the uncertainty that's been created by OMB, " Research!America President and CEO Russ Paulsen tells Axios. New international enrollment dropped last year, pushing students to rival hubs.

Earlier this month, the Pentagon ordered 30 institutions to audit their foreign collaboration by August 31 to maintain federal research funding, citing national security. The OMB proposal additionally restricts certain foreign collaboration.

"Nobody. Is suggesting that we should not be mindful of research security, " Paulsen notes, "but we also need to be mindful of overly broad restrictions that could undermine our nation's ability to be in the forefront."

For context, the DOJ has continued a cascade of probes against states and universities over admission practices, financial assistance for undocumented immigrants and more.

It has honed in on medical school admissions, alleging that UCLA, Yale and U.C. San Diego's medical schools illegally considered race.

Notably, the Department of Education additionally unveiled last month new probes into five medical schools for "alleged racial discrimination in admissions."

"It seems like the new strategy now is to threaten litigation, and then to move the institutions into negotiations, " Todd Wolfson, the American Association of University Professors president, informed Axios. "What they're trying to achieve is not as clear as when they throw a demand letter" at universities.

Meanwhile, the administration has zeroed in on college accreditation, too. As first noted by The Wall Street Journal, most lately by threatening the American Bar Association's power to accredit law schools.

Department staff discovered the ABA "out of compliance with the agency's accreditation regulations and recognition standard, " a spokesperson confirmed, adding the review remains ongoing.

Meanwhile, the Education Department additionally proposed a new framework intended to "break up entrenched accreditation monopolies" and speed review for new accreditors.

Notably, the proposal emphasizes that accrediting agencies must promote and prioritize "intellectual diversity and the free exchange of ideas amongst faculty."

Go deeper: Dems plan probes into firms, colleges that cooperated with Trump.

Taken together, the developments around trump' s higher ed shakeup starts a new semester point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.