Trump's Higher Education Crackdown, One Year In
From Harvard's $2.2 billion grant freeze to 300-plus visa revocations, a comprehensive look at the Trump administration's multi-front assault on American universities and what comes next.

Education and career news covering online learning platforms, career advice, professional skills, and certifications. Insights to help you learn, grow, and advance.
From Harvard's $2.2 billion grant freeze to 300-plus visa revocations, a comprehensive look at the Trump administration's multi-front assault on American universities and what comes next.

New workforce data from the Burning Glass Institute shows 41 percent of US job postings require decision-making skills, rising to 68 percent in technical fields, with a 23 percent wage premium attached. Schools are not systematically teaching it.

The New School, Portland State, Syracuse, and UNT each face deficits near $45-48M. Seven universities cut hundreds of jobs and up to 84+ programs in March 2026 as falling enrollment, federal policy fallout, and the long-predicted demographic cliff converge.

An Express Employment Professionals-Harris Poll survey found 66% of Gen Z workers teach themselves job skills online, triple the rate of boomers. Despite 74% of hiring managers believing self-taught skills are credible, 53% still prefer formal education, creating a complex credential landscape.

Lumina Foundation-Gallup's 2026 study of 14,000+ students finds 42% of bachelor's students influenced by AI in their major choice, 16% have already switched. Among two-year students, 56% are reconsidering their field of study.

Yale economist Joseph Altonji finds psychology master's degrees returning -8% ROI and clinical psychology -5% in 2026. Medicine returns 173%, law 41%. AI eliminating entry-level roles in adjacent fields is accelerating the negative returns.

Brookings Institution research finds 69% of nondegree credentials offer minimal value. Pell Grants now fund short-term programs with no accountability mechanism. AI credentials grow 2x faster but quality is uneven.

FlexJobs found 15 career fields with 19%+ growth in fully remote postings in 2025. Robert Half data: 24% of new job postings are hybrid, 11% fully remote. Only 16% of workers want a fully in-office job.

LinkedIn's 2026 skills report tracked 8 fast-growing clusters using acquisition growth and hiring success simultaneously. AI dev tools lead with prompt engineering, LangChain, RAG, and vector databases.

A February 2026 court ruling dissolved the SAVE plan injunction, potentially accelerating IDR forgiveness for millions. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act eliminated ICR and PAYE by 2028. Key deadlines borrowers must know now.

JP Morgan forecasts unemployment peaking at 4.5%. But 85% of employers now use skills-based hiring, digital skills command 40-65% wage premiums, and removing degree filters expands qualified pools by 19x.

Randstad analysis of 50M job postings finds robotics technician demand up 107%, HVAC engineers 67%, construction 30% since 2022. Data center electricians are earning up to $280K. The trades workforce shortage is acute.
