Higher Education

WBUR's coverage of higher education news.

The UMass Boston campus. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

Uncertainty And Pandemic Shortfalls Prompt 'Very Tough' Cuts At UMass

The system's adjusted $3.3 billion budget involves a projected $291 million in expense reductions.

International Students Still Being Denied Visas, AGs Warn

A group of state attorneys general led by Maura Healey told a federal judge Tuesday that federal officials have not yet followed through with their pledge to keep in place...

UMass Pairs Tuition Freeze With Layoffs And Spending Cuts

The University of Massachusetts will cut fiscal 2021 spending about 5% below last year's level, part of a strategy to close a $264 million budget gap as the university and...

Poll: Many Low-Income, Latino Residents Are Rethinking College Amid The Pandemic

A sizable minority of Massachusetts’ most underserved high school students and their families are reconsidering their higher education plans in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

Gov't Rescinds Rule Barring Foreign Students From U.S. While Colleges Hold Classes Remotely

The Department of Homeland Security agreed to rescind new and tighter restrictions placed on student visas amid a suit begun by Harvard and MIT. The striking reversal came in a...

Loughlin, Giannulli Want $1M Bail Cut Ahead Of Sentencing In College Admissions Scandal

"Full House" actor Lori Loughlin and her fashion designer husband Mossimo Giannulli are urging a judge to cut their bail from $1 million to $100,000, saying they will not flee...

More Than 200 Schools Back Harvard/MIT Lawsuit Over Foreign Student Rule

The schools have signed court briefs arguing that a new Immigration and Customs Enforcement policy jeopardizes students’ safety and forces schools to reconsider fall plans they have spent months preparing.

Local Coverage

Jul 13, 2020

The Cole Science Center and the Harold F. Johnson Library at the heart of Hampshire College's campus. The college is planning to reopen to students in the fall, following social distancing guidelines. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

Hampshire College Offers Foreign Students 'Sanctuary' Amid New Rules

College President Ed Wingenbach said in a statement this week that the private, liberal arts college in Amherst isn’t directly impacted by the new measures, but that the school has...

Local Coverage

Jul 9, 2020

Harvard University as seen from across the Charles River. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Harvard And MIT Sue To Block Tougher ICE Policy On Student Visas

In a suit filed jointly Wednesday morning in U.S. District Court, attorneys for the two universities said the rule “leaves hundreds of thousands with no educational options within the United...

Local Coverage

Jul 8, 2020

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus in Cambridge (Charles Krupa/AP)

MIT Will Welcome Seniors Back To Campus This Fall

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology will only welcome back two groups of students to its Cambridge campus: Rising seniors who wish to return and "a relatively small fraction of other...

Local Coverage

Jul 7, 2020

Brown University in Providence, R.I. (Steven Senne/AP)

Brown Announces Plans For Students' Return To Campus In Fall

Undergraduates will be required to be on campus for two of the three terms - fall, spring and summer - but no first-year students will attend the fall term, President...

Local Coverage

Jul 7, 2020

In this Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018, photo students and passers-by walk past an entrance to Boston University College of Arts and Sciences (Steven Senne/AP File Photo)

ICE: International Students Whose Courses Are All Online This Fall Must Leave U.S.

The immigration agency announced Monday that it is walking back exemptions issued in the spring which allowed international students on F-1 and M-1 visas to temporarily circumvent federal regulations around...

Local Coverage

Jul 7, 2020

Students walk in and out of the Widener Library in Harvard Yard. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Harvard Will Ask Most Undergraduates To Stay Off Campus In The Fall

Every student who come to campus in the fall will be asked to submit to viral testing every three days, as well as report symptoms to university health officials, wear...

Local Coverage

Jul 6, 2020

Citing Long-Term Needs — Not Coronavirus — UMass Dartmouth Cuts Eight Sports Teams

Among the cuts were men’s lacrosse, women’s equestrian, men’s golf, co-ed sailing, men’s and women’s swimming and diving, and men’s and women’s tennis.

Local Coverage

Jul 2, 2020

Harvard students walk by as someone enters the Fly Club, one of the exclusive final clubs at Harvard University. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Citing Supreme Court's LGBT-Discrimination Decision, Harvard Ends Sanctions Against Single-Gender Clubs

The reversal — which depends on legal reasoning in the Supreme Court’s recent decision barring discrimination against LGBTQ workers — represents a surprising victory for the single-gender organizations fighting Harvard’s...

Local Coverage

Jun 30, 2020

The Old Chapel at UMass Amherst sure is pretty. But it's falling apart. (Andrew Phelps/WBUR)

UMass Amherst Will Let Students Choose: Come Back To Campus This Fall, Or Stay Home

The flagship University of Massachusetts campus in Amherst plans to hold classes remotely this fall and start classes in August but will also allow students to move back in, provided...

Local Coverage

Jun 29, 2020

The University of Massachusetts Lowell East Campus on June 11, 2020. (Blake Nissen/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

UMass Lowell Cuts 100 Jobs — For Now

University officials say the cuts to personnel — which are now deemed temporary, but will last at least several months — are part of an effort to close a projected...

Local Coverage

Jun 26, 2020

Two students walk by the "Father and Son" sculpture at the Roxbury Community College. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Pandemic Could Mean Fiscal Peril For Many State Colleges And Universities

Most of the state universities and community colleges are financially sound enough to weather the “reasonable scenarios” for at least one year. But much remains uncertain.

Local Coverage

Jun 24, 2020

For Small Colleges, Decision To Reopen Campus Is Especially Daunting

The decision to reopen campus this fall is especially hard for small colleges, which risk losing income they rely on.

Local Coverage

04:35Jun 24, 2020

Students and faculty walk out of the Campus Center at UMass Boston, in this 2018 file photo. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

UMass Boston Staying Remote For Fall Semester

The school will not bring its students back to the Columbia Point campus in the fall and will instead continue on with the remote teaching and learning platform that it...

Local Coverage

Jun 22, 2020

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Uncertainty And Pandemic Shortfalls Prompt 'Very Tough' Cuts At UMass

International Students Still Being Denied Visas, AGs Warn

UMass Pairs Tuition Freeze With Layoffs And Spending Cuts

Poll: Many Low-Income, Latino Residents Are Rethinking College Amid The Pandemic

Gov't Rescinds Rule Barring Foreign Students From U.S. While Colleges Hold Classes Remotely

Loughlin, Giannulli Want $1M Bail Cut Ahead Of Sentencing In College Admissions Scandal

More Than 200 Schools Back Harvard/MIT Lawsuit Over Foreign Student Rule

Hampshire College Offers Foreign Students 'Sanctuary' Amid New Rules

Harvard And MIT Sue To Block Tougher ICE Policy On Student Visas

MIT Will Welcome Seniors Back To Campus This Fall

Brown Announces Plans For Students' Return To Campus In Fall

ICE: International Students Whose Courses Are All Online This Fall Must Leave U.S.

Harvard Will Ask Most Undergraduates To Stay Off Campus In The Fall

Citing Long-Term Needs — Not Coronavirus — UMass Dartmouth Cuts Eight Sports Teams

Citing Supreme Court's LGBT-Discrimination Decision, Harvard Ends Sanctions Against Single-Gender Clubs

UMass Amherst Will Let Students Choose: Come Back To Campus This Fall, Or Stay Home

UMass Lowell Cuts 100 Jobs — For Now

Pandemic Could Mean Fiscal Peril For Many State Colleges And Universities

For Small Colleges, Decision To Reopen Campus Is Especially Daunting

UMass Boston Staying Remote For Fall Semester