We’re in Chicago this week for our inaugural in-person Economic and Workforce Development Officers Meeting. As higher education and the workforce continue to align, we’re looking forward to diving into conversations with our members around state needs, trends, labor market needs, etc.
Kicking us off this morning is Jeff Strohl, Research Professor and Director at Georgetown CEW, with a dynamic presentation on the changing nature and relationship of higher education and the economy.
#negreg The group has wrapped up the second day, and a smaller caucus of the accreditors and institutions is meeting to discuss how they will approach the dept's proposals for monitoring Civil Rights, free speech and acad. freedom -
the caucus is supposed to report publicly in the morning
#negreg - first real flash of anger from Mark Becker, board chair of CPHE, who tells the dept that the narrative about runaway tuition, at public colleges at least is 'patently false.'
Cost drivers are fed compliance which will increase with the proposed regs, Becker says
NEW POST: Check out our latest blog post, a Q&A with Dr. Zachary Barricklow from the North Carolina Community College System Office, on how data and strategic partnerships inform efforts to strengthen outcomes for rural institutions. https://ow.ly/Vq5F50YIr11
Associate VP @cgheesling.bsky.social is speaking today with @ithakasr.bsky.social's Holistic Credit Mobility project about the changing national landscape regarding workforce Pell, regional accreditation, and three-year bachelor’s degree programs and their impacts on credit mobility efforts.
🗓️ We’ve recently published a series of six research papers and a synthesis paper that provides a brief overview of each paper, identifies key themes across findings, and concludes with policy implications and recommendations. Check them out here: ow.ly/wxAI50WyjbY
The Department of Justice issued guidance for all organizations receiving federal funding regarding DEI. Notably, it seems to put top ten percent admission plans on shaky ground because of references to geographic targeting.
www.politico.com/news/2025/07...
This morning, Associate VP @carrienklein.bsky.social spoke on a panel at the State Financial Aid Research Network Annual Conference about our role in the data space; the scope of state #highereddata; levers and challenges of state data use; and opportunities for state data in uncertain times.
Join us in welcoming Dr. Corey Gheesling! 👏 As our new Associate Vice President, he will focus on building SHEEO's workforce development portfolio to assist state higher ed agencies in their efforts to meet economic & workforce demands. ow.ly/BOq850WmvkH @cgheesling.bsky.social
Don’t just look at the higher ed provisions in the bill. The impact of the Medicaid and SNAP cuts on state budgets will lead to cuts in state higher ed funding.
The biggest impact of this legislation on higher ed is going to come from the budget hits states are going to take.
There's a lot in a state budget that can't be cut. Higher ed can be.
That's likely to make higher education more expensive for millions of people.
www.chronicle.com/article/what...
"The Office of State Planning and Budgeting estimated that the GOP megabill will decrease state revenues by as much as $500 million and increase costs to the state by as much as $650 million."
www.cohousedems.com/news/gop-meg...
We're teaming up with @ithakasr.bsky.social on a new project to assess how state higher education agencies use IPEDS to support their systems, inform policy and planning, and advance credential attainment and other postsecondary education goals. Learn more: sr.ithaka.org/blog/uses-of...
New York City had free college tuition at all CUNY schools for 130 years
House/Senate are set to eliminate Grad PLUS, and put in place loan limits that would dramatically restrict graduate borrowing. Media coverage emphasizes impact this may have on very expensive programs like Medicine and Dentistry, but @peerresearch.bsky.social finds impact will be much(!) broader 1/
You all know what is coming for #highered
www.politico.com/news/2025/06...
No, donors wont, they cant.
The NIH alone made about $34 billion in grants a year. Gates, the biggest foundation in the world, has $77 billion in assets.
Philanthropy is important, but it won’t save us.
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/28/u...
If the Senate version of the endowment tax passes, not only will universities pay much less than the House proposed, but many fewer colleges will pay the endowment tax than pay it *currently*.
All I see here is top notch ball security, elite contact balance, a willingness to grind out tough yards btwn the tackles, and surprising burst after he finds daylight
Whoa.
Back of the envelope calculation from the other day using CBPP data---the House cuts to SNAP in Pennsylvania would be 47% of the state's higher ed budget. Doesn't count additional administrative costs, Medicaid, etc. Just one SNAP provision.
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/20/u...
Some universities are making more modest adjustments for now, and approaches vary even within single systems. Public university trustees in Tennessee will soon vote on a proposal to raise in-state tuition by 3 percent at outposts in Chattanooga, Martin and Pulaski. The state’s flagship university in Knoxville, however, is not looking to increase tuition, though it is seeking a slight bump in mandatory fees.
I don't like the New York Times referring to regional public universities with their own presidents as "outposts." That comes across as very dismissive of the workhorses of higher education.
The bill in Congress in going to make this much, much worse. As as recent op-ed in Inside Higher Ed noted-"You ain't seen nothing yet."
Tuition Increases and Layoffs Are Coming to a Broad Set of Universities www.nytimes.com/2025/06/20/u...
I called this correctly in 2023.
“Every budget cycle for the past 10 years, the Wisconsin Legislature conjures up a new reason not to fund the UW system,” he said. “Now it’s DEI, but in 2025 it will be something else.” ---Inside Higher Ed 12/8/23
A strong argument can be made that the most important public #highered provisions in the "Big, Beautiful Bill" aren't in the education section.
www.cbpp.org/research/foo...
