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Attack on Iran

 

Recently, the US and Israel attacked Iran, killing the country’s leader and senior officials and igniting a regional conflict. Countries directly involved include: Iran, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Cyprus, Türkiye, and Saudi Arabia. 

 

Two students were among the six US servicemen who have been killed: Webster University student Cody Khork, a captain in the Army, and Drake University student Declan Coady, a member of the US Army Reserve. 

 

The State Department advised US citizens to leave the area. However, efforts to evacuate have been complicated by airspace and embassy closures, reductions in staffing, and the high number of vacant ambassadorships. Many students, researchers, and staff may still be stranded. Institutions that offer programs or have branches or satellites in volatile areas advise stranded students and staff to follow shelter-in-place directives. In less dangerous areas, they've pivoted to remote instruction. 

 

The conflict may affect internet access and cloud services here in the states. Amazon, whose services are used by many universities, businesses, and municipalities, reported that drones damaged its facilities in the UAE and Bahrain. Some services were disrupted. The company recommends migrating workloads to servers located elsewhere. 

 

Cyberattacks have also been a feature of the conflict. Although Iran has not responded in kind to the cyberattacks targeting its communications, experts recommend increasing cybersecurity vigilance. In view of this, campus leadership should remind all members of the community to:

 

• Use antivirus and malware protection,
• Use limit tracking options when offered,
• Avoid opening email attachments from unknown senders,
• Avoid clicking on links sent via email, voice mail, or text,
• Avoid bypassing security features such as invalid certificate warnings,
• Avoid connecting to unsecured Wi-Fi networks,
• Install patches and updates in a timely fashion,
• Backup data and test the viability of backups,
• Use strong passwords, 
• Use multi-factor authentication, 
• Verify checksums when offered, 
• Change passwords regularly,
• Keep router firmware up-to-date,
• Disable ports that are not being used, and
• Secure printers and other internet-enabled (IoT) devices.

 

Note that there are several fake reports and videos circulating online. These can cause distress and confusion. In addition to providing regular status updates about those stranded overseas, administrators may want to increase access to mental health professionals and counseling. Read updates on the Chronicle of Higher Education and Inside Higher ED.

 

 

Endowment Performance

An annual study of higher education endowments by National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) and Commonfund shows endowment performance slipped slightly year-over-year with a 10.9 percent return for 2025, down from 2024’s 11.2 percent. Endowment withdrawals increased 11 percent during the same period. Nearly half of that went to student financial aid and a significant portion of the remainder was spent of academic programs and research. HBCU Money offered insights into how participating HBCUs fared. Read more.

 

Payments to Student-Athletes

Counter offers are being made to student-athletes whose Name Image and Likeness (NIL) contract details have become public. Although some contracts include anti-disclosure clauses, many do not. The information is being used by  street agents  to lure student-athletes with higher offers. Some institutions refuse to disclose the information citing the Federal Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). However, there is no consensus on whether the FERPA actually remains in effect once a NIL contract is signed. Some states have stepped in, with at least five enacting laws that block access to contract details. Experts recommend institutions reject Freedom of Information Act requests to mitigate the risk.  

 

States Use Federal Earnings Test

States have begun to use the earnings test included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) to eliminate programs at public institutions. OBBBA stipulated that federal student loans could not be used to pay tuition for programs whose graduates’ earnings fell beneath a pre-determined threshold. Although the Department of Education (ED) has not yet finalized implementation of that rule, bills introduced in several states would shutdown such programs. A recent report shows for-profit institutions would be hit the hardest. A few artistic and certificate programs at private and public institutions could also be affected. However, the report concluded that since most programs at HBCUs and MSIs pass the earnings test, they are unlikely to see any disruption in student loan access.  Read more. 

 

Institutions Abandon Project that Helped Minorities

The Department of Education Office for Civil Rights announced that several institutions agreed to end participation in The PhD Project. The project was formed to diversify business school faculty by helping historically underrepresented students pursue doctoral degrees in the field. ED claimed participation in the program violates Title VI because the program specifically targets Black, Hispanic, and Native American professionals. ED opened investigations into forty-five participating institutions. However, the agreements that end thirty-one of those investigations go further than requiring institutions to cancel their memberships. They require signatories to examine other relationships with a view toward rooting out diversity initiatives unrelated to the project.

 

Revision of TRIO Program

In a process that has now become standardized, the Justice Department declined to defend ED in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program. The TRIO program, named for a Black astronaut who died in the 1986 US Challenger explosion, is open to first-generation low-income students of any race and students from groups that are underrepresented in graduate education. ED agreed to use its rulemaking authority to strip the underrepresentation component from the eligibility rules. Critics say the move will roll back access and opportunity for underrepresented groups. 

 

Addressing Immigration-Related Concerns

An issue brief released by the American Council on Education provides information to help administrators keep track of federal immigration policies. Topics in the report include DACA recipients, undocumented students, visa applicants, travel bans, temporary protected status, and FERPA protections. 

 

Update on International Enrollment

Initial reports on the decline of international students awarded F-1 visas during the summer of 2025 placed the decrease at less than 20 percent. However, that projection was based on limited data released by the State Department. Consequently, it underestimated the impact of federal restrictions—particularly on students hailing from India, Nigeria, and Ghana. As more recently released data show, year over year, the State Department issued 97,000 fewer visas during May-August 2025. That 36 percent decline represents over $1,000,000,000 in lost revenue for colleges and universities. Read more on Academic Jobs and the Chronicle of Higher Education.

 

Re-accreditation Progress Gathering Steam

Barber-Scotia College has satisfied over 80 percent of the requirements to secure accreditation by the Transnational Association of Christian Schools, Colleges, and Universities (TRACS). The institution is focused on strengthening its finances and establishing relationships with other HBCUs in North Carolina. President Chris V. Rey, J.D., hopes to forge an academic identity for the college focused on data analytics and Ai. Read more on the University Business and the Barber-Scotia websites. 

 

Interagency Agreements

As it continues to reduce itself, ED announced agreements that will outsource work to the Department of State (DOS) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The DOS will manage enforcement of Section 117 foreign contract and gift reporting. HHS will manage Project SERV, School Safety National Activities, Ready to Learn Programming, Full-Service Community Schools, Promise Neighborhoods, and Statewide Family Engagement Centers. Critics question ED's authority to make such agreements and note that layoffs and inexperience may cause problems. 

 

Federal Civil Rights Law Considerations

The Legal Defense Fund published a list with links to guidance documents that have been removed from government websites. The documents contain accepted interpretations of civil rights laws, including Title VI—a statute ED has cited in enforcement actions.

 

Litigation over Loan Repayment Plan Continues

A federal court expected to approve an agreement between the Department of Education (ED) and several states did not do so. The settlement agreement would have ended the Saving on a Valuable Education Plan (SAVE). However, finding the parties no longer had any dispute, the court dismissed the lawsuit instead. Judge John Andrew Ross noted that provisions of the OBBBA wind down the plan over a three-year period. Observers say the dismissal leaves SAVE in place and may obligate ED to follow through on its loan forgiveness provisions. The states asked the court to stay the dismissal while they file an appeal.

 

Atlanta HBCUs Move Forward with Public-Private Partnership

The Develop Fulton Board approved issuance of up to $144,460,000 in bonds to finance a project that will provide housing for students attending Morehouse and Spelman Colleges. Construction of the facility, on land located between the two institutions, is expected to begin this spring.

 

Land-grant HBCUs Sign Memorandum of Understanding

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Council of 1890 Universities signed an agreement to renew and expand collaborative efforts. It establishes a task force to ensure HBCU Land-grant Universities (1890 HBCUs) can participate in federal programs. Citing provisions in the April 2025 executive order that reestablished the White House Initiative on HBCUs, the agreement focuses on expanding workforce development, strengthening institutional capacity, supporting community outreach, and addressing sustainability issues. Read more.

 

Help for New Presidents

The Council of Independent Colleges added recordings and other slides from the 2026 New Presidents Program to their resource page. The forum was held in January. The videos cover financial fundamentals, federal advocacy, communications, and building resilience. Other organizations that offer help to new presidents include the Executive Leadership Institute, the Higher Education Leadership Foundation, and the Millennium Leadership Initiative.

 

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Upheaval on Four Fronts

Higher education consultants, EAB, released Higher Ed State of the Sector 2025-26 report. The authors discuss the impact of facing challenges related to politics, finances, demographics, and technology simultaneously.

 

Annual Endowment Survey

The National Association of College and University Business Officers and the Common Fund released their annual study of endowments. HBCU Money posted a list of the top 10 HBCU endowment changes and other data for HBCUs from fiscal year 2025.

 

Heritage Foundation Doubles Down

The organization that authored Project 2025, released a follow-up report, Themes of Higher Education Reform. The latter encourages the administration to keep the pressure on colleges and universities while dismantling the Department of Education, privatizing services, promoting neutrality, further dismantling DEI, and overhauling accreditation. Inside Higher Ed published a review.

 

Congressional Budget Office

The Budget and Economic Outlook: 2026 to 2036, released by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) briefly touched on the impact of recent changes made to federal student aid. The CBO is a a non-partisan federal agency created to provide budge analysis and forecasts to Congress. Its findings suggest changes to the federal student loans may not offset increases needed to fund expansion of the Pell Grant Program. The changes may also trigger enrollment declines.

 

Debt Levels Decline at Public Institutions in Kentucky

A report from the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education shows an increase in the percentage of students graduating without student loan debt from the state’s public institutions. The report cites increases in grants, scholarships, financial literacy instruction, and dual credit as contributing factors.

 

Study Overlooks Important Factor

 A recent report that attributed a hefty increase in the number of first-year students requiring remedial math to the pandemic and to enrollment of more low-income students failed to note another possible cause—changes in the testing policy. In prior years, students were permitted to use calculators. That policy changed in 2024. Enrollment of low-income, English learners, and foster youth was not increasing at the time. A new report looks at the data and questions the conclusions of the prior report. Source.

 

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