Higher Education
WBUR's coverage of higher education news.
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...
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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.
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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.
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...
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...
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...
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.
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.
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...