Yale University's Committee on Trust in Higher Education spent a year examining the forces behind declining public confidence in colleges and universities and came back with 20 recommendations for how institutions can respond. Julia Adams, cochair of the committee, walks us through the findings and what they might mean for campuses nationwide.

Here are links to the the report and the policy issues the hosts discuss:

Report of the Yale Committee on Trust in Higher Education (PDF)
https://president.yale.edu/sites/default/files/2026-04/Report-of-the-Committee-on-Trust-in-Higher-Education.pdf

Reimagining and Improving Student Education-Federal Student Loan Program Final Regulations
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/05/01/2026-08556/reimagining-and-improving-student-education-federal-student-loan-program-final-regulations

The Rule That's Blocking the Next Generation of Health Care Workers
Higher Education Today | May 12, 2026
https://www.higheredtoday.org/2026/05/11/the-rule-thats-blocking-healthcare-workers/

Education Department's Final Rule on Financial Aid Locks in Restrictive Graduate Loan Limits
https://www.acenet.edu/News-Room/Pages/ED-Final-Rule-Locks-in-Restrictive-Grad-Loan-Limits-.aspx

Contact Congress: Help Students Access Professional Degree Programs
https://www.votervoice.net/ACENET/Campaigns/132758/Respond

Justice Denied: How Trump's Office for Civil Rights Reached a 12-Year Low in Protecting Students from Discrimination
https://www.sanders.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/04.24.26-Justice-Denied-How-Trumps-Office-for-Civil-Rights-Reached-a-12-Year-Low-in-Protecting-Students-from-Discrimination_FINAL.pdf

Court blocks Education Department's data demands for over 170 more colleges
Higher Ed Dive | April 27, 2026
https://www.highereddive.com/news/education-department-acts-survey-preliminary-injunction/818620/

The landscape for federal TRIO programs has shifted dramatically since we talked about it in January. The Department of Education (ED) has issued new grant proposals that would cut the number of programs by more than half and fundamentally redirect TRIO away from its mission of college access.

We welcomed back Kimberly Jones, president of the Council for Opportunity in Education, to walk us through what's at stake for these programs and the students they serve. The hosts also give the latest updates on ED's negotiated rulemaking.

Links:

U.S. Department of Education Issues Proposed Rule to Hold Colleges and Universities Accountable for Low Earning Outcomes
https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-department-of-education-issues-proposed-rule-hold-colleges-and-universities-accountable-low-earning-outcomes

ED Pushes Ahead on Accreditation Overhaul Despite Negotiator Pushback
https://www.acenet.edu/News-Room/Pages/ED-Pushes-Ahead-on-Accreditation-Overhaul.aspx

Accreditation discussion draft
https://www.ed.gov/media/document/2026-negotiated-rulemaking-aim-aim-draft-regulations-version-11-updated-04172026-113722.pdf

Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; Foreign Gifts and Contracts Disclosures
Federal Register | April 15, 2026
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/04/15/2026-07304/agency-information-collection-activities-comment-request-foreign-gifts-and-contracts-disclosures

What drove Hampshire College to shutter, despite raising $55 million
The Christian Science Monitor | April 18, 2026
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Education/2026/0418/hampshire-college-closure-endowment

Council for Opportunity in Education and TRIO Programs
https://coenet.org/coe-and-trio-programs/

COE Trio Advocacy
https://coenet.org/take-action-now/

The Council for Opportunity in Education Condemns Latest TRIO Grant Proposal, Calls It "Direct Assault on College Access"
https://coenet.org/news-impact/press-release/the-council-for-opportunity-in-education-condemns-latest-trio-grant-proposal-calls-it-direct-assault-on-college-access/

COE Blasts Latest Federal Proposal for TRIO, Calls for Immediate Rescission
https://coenet.org/news-impact/press-release/coe-blasts-latest-federal-proposal-for-trio-calls-for-immediate-rescission/

COE Rejects Proposal to Eliminate Federal TRIO Programs in FY 2027 Budget
Council for Opportunity in Education | https://coenet.org/news-impact/press-release/coe-rejects-proposal-to-eliminate-federal-trio-programs-in-fy-2027-budget/

Colleges have spent years building systems to help students vote. Now a mix of federal guidance, investigations, and state-level changes is putting new pressure on that work. ACE General Counsel Peter McDonough joins us to explain where the legal lines are and where uncertainty is creating risk. But first, the hosts discuss the recent higher education policy developments from the past few weeks, from the Trump administration's FY 2027 budget proposal to the Education Department's draft rule on accreditation.

The hosts are joined by ACE's Emmanual Guillory to break down key federal rulemaking shaping student aid. The conversation focuses on the latest developments in graduate loan limits, new rules for Workforce Pell and what it will take for institutions to participate, and the Department of Education's expanded IPEDS data collection.

At ACEx2026 in Washington, DC, the dotEDU team recorded a special live episode during a session at the ACE Annual Meeting. Instead of the usual format, hosts Mushtaq Gunja, Sarah Spreitzer, and Jon Fansmith took turns posing questions to each other about the direction of federal higher education policy in 2026: how it may differ from the first year of President Trump's second term, what the year's major policy stories could be, where their lobbying efforts have and have not gained traction, and how to advocate effectively for colleges and universities in a contentious environment. The episode concludes with questions from the audience.

The national conversation about higher education shifted dramatically in 2025. In this episode recorded in Boston in December, Jon Fansmith and Mushtaq Gunja talk with GBH News correspondent Kirk Carapezza about the reporting landscape and the pressures facing colleges beyond the headlines.

Here are some of the links and references from this week's show:

Brandeis bets big on rebuilding the liberal arts around real-world skills
GBH | Dec. 2, 2025

Colleges hope to 'AI-proof' their offerings as new tech changes job expectations
GBH | Oct. 29, 2025

Local colleges targeted amid growing campus culture wars
GBH | Sept. 24, 2025

College Uncovered Season 4: The Demographic Cliff

College Uncovered Season 4 Bonus: The New College Compact

College Uncovered Season 2, Episode 4: Closing Time

Amherst College: 1,900 Students, 850 Courses. What's Not To Like?
On Campus | Aug. 3, 2016