Headline News

More than two-thirds of college students believe universities should protect free speech — even if the speech extends to physical threats or inciting violence, according to a new Axios Vibes survey by The Harris Poll.
The stunning finding reveals a desire to push the limits of free expression on campus. It hints at deep divides over how to advocate for Palestinian civilians while protecting the safety of Jewish students.

The U.S. Department of Education continues to lag on finalizing two key Title IX proposals anxiously awaited by district leaders for over three years — and now policy experts say it’s likely the department will finalize both this spring, after the department’s latest self-imposed deadline of March. The broader Title IX proposal released in June 2022 would protect LGBTQ+ students under the federal anti-discrimination law for the first time. It would also change Title IX implementation in a way that public education experts say make it more practical for schools, including shortening investigation and resolution timelines. The second proposal, released nearly a year later in April 2023, would create a framework for transgender students’ participation on sports teams aligning with their gender identities.

For Christopher L. Gardner, the looming change in the federal rule governing overtime pay “feels a little bit, like Yogi Berra would say, déjà vu all over again.” Gardner was assistant vice president for finance at Wofford College (SC) in 2016, the last time the U.S. Department of Labor set out to tweak the section of federal law that governs which workers get paid overtime for working more than 40 hours a week and which workers don’t. Now he’s chief financial officer of Wofford, a small private college in Spartanburg, S.C., and the government is changing the rule again. But there’s a critical difference. In 2016, Gardner (no relation to this reporter) and other administrators spent months preparing for the overtime-rule change, bracing themselves for red-tape headaches and budget impacts, only to watch the proposed change fizzle. Now, with the final language of the new rule expected in April, Gardner and many other college leaders may be facing bigger headaches and more substantial budget blows.

In statements and a fact sheet, the Biden administration highlighted Friday several ongoing efforts to crack down on so-called junk fees in higher education. Those efforts include a proposal in the president’s latest budget to eliminate student loan origination fees. 

House Republicans are seeking to end the use of “political litmus tests” at public colleges and universities in a wide-ranging bill released Friday that aims to ensure students’ First Amendment rights are protected. Institutions that don’t comply would face a serious penalty—losing access to federal financial aid for a year. The Respecting the First Amendment on Campus Act is the third in a series of GOP bills aimed at updating the Higher Education Act of 1965.