Episodios

  • Workforce Pell, Professional Degrees, and a Complicated Spring in Washington

    Workforce Pell, Professional Degrees, and a Complicated Spring in Washington
    Mar 20 2026

    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.
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    57 m
  • dotEDU Live at ACEx2026

    dotEDU Live at ACEx2026
    Mar 9 2026

    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.
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    1 h y 1 m
  • A Funding Deal, the Pell Shortfall, and New Federal Pressure on Campuses

    A Funding Deal, the Pell Shortfall, and New Federal Pressure on Campuses
    Feb 19 2026
    The hosts run a rapid-fire policy lightning round on the biggest higher ed issues right now, from federal funding and a looming Pell shortfall to new graduate loan limits. They also dig into two fast-moving flashpoints: the Education Department's scrutiny of a long-running student voting study and the administration's escalating actions aimed at Harvard, including potential impacts on service members' education benefits. Plus, an update on Sarah's favorite topic, Section 117 foreign gift reporting. Here are some of the links and references from this week's show: Appropriations How Congress's Budget Could Hamper Trump ED Agenda Inside Higher Ed | Feb. 12, 2026 Tufts/NSLVE National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement U.S. Department of Education Takes Actions to Protect Integrity of U.S. Elections Department of Education | Feb. 5. 2026 Education Dept. Tells Universities Not to Use Student Voting Data Inside Higher Ed | Feb. 5, 2026 dotEDU: Debates, Flies, and Political Engagement at the University of Utah New SAVE Act Bills Would Still Block Millions of Americans From Voting Brennan Center for Justice | Feb. 9, 2026 Harvard v. Trump dotEDU: What the Headlines Miss About Higher Ed: A Conversation with Kirk Carapezza Justice Department Sues Harvard for Admissions Records The New York Times | Feb. 13, 2026 Department of Defense Severs Academic Ties With Harvard Inside Higher Ed | Feb. 10, 2026 Grad Loan Limits Reimagining and Improving Student Education Federal Register | Jan. 30, 2026 Summary: ​The U.S. Department of Education's Proposal on OBBB RISE Notice of Proposed Rulemaking ACE **Contact Congress to Urge a Broader Professional Degree Definition** Accreditation U.S. Department of Education Announces Negotiated Rulemaking to Reform and Strengthen America's Higher Education Accreditation System Department of Education | Jan. 26, 2026 U.S. Department of Education Issues Proposed Interpretive Rule to Eliminate the Use of "Regional" by Accrediting Agencies Department of Education | Feb. 13, 2026 Section 117 Section 117 Foreign Gift and Contract Public Transparency Dashboard Department of Education U.S. Department of Education Releases Latest Foreign Funding Disclosures from Federally-Funded American Universities Department of Education | Feb. 11, 2026
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    57 m
  • What the Headlines Miss About Higher Ed: A Conversation with Kirk Carapezza

    What the Headlines Miss About Higher Ed: A Conversation with Kirk Carapezza
    Feb 13 2026

    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

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    31 m
  • What the Future Holds for Federal TRIO Programs

    What the Future Holds for Federal TRIO Programs
    Jan 29 2026
    Questions about the future of federal TRIO programs—academic and support services for low-income, first-generation, and disabled students—come up more than almost any other topic on the podcast. We're joined this week by Kimberly Jones, president of the Council for Opportunity in Education, for a conversation about where TRIO stands and what may be ahead. We begin with some speculation on whether or not we're heading toward a partial government shutdown, and the latest on the Department of Education's moves on accreditation. Here are some of the links and references from this week's show: Contact Congress to Urge a Broader Professional Degree Definition 2026 Winter Term Pulse Point Survey (PDF) Appropriations House Passes FY 2026 Spending Package Preserving Education and Research Funding as Senate Showdown Looms ACE | Jan. 26, 2026 ACE, Higher Ed Groups Urge Congress to Safeguard FY 2026 Education Funding ACE | Oct. 1, 2025 Letter to Congress on MSI Funding ACE | Oct. 3, 2025 Legal Updates Education Dept. Drops Appeal of Court Order Blocking Anti-DEI Guidance Inside Higher Ed | Jan. 22, 2026 Higher Ed Groups Back Harvard in Appeal Challenging Trump Proclamation on International Students ACE | Jan. 21, 2026 Accreditation U.S. Department of Education Announces Negotiated Rulemaking to Reform and Strengthen America's Higher Education Accreditation System Department of Education | Jan. 26, 2026 ED Eyes Rewrite of Accreditation Rules Inside Higher Ed | Jan. 27, 2026 Comments on the Education Department's Proposed Revisions to the Accreditation Handbook ACE | Jan. 26, 2026 NACIQI Members Stalemate on Picking New Chair Republic Report (December 2025) TRIO Council for Opportunity in Education and TRIO Programs COE Trio Advocacy Congressional Outreach Packet Federal Court Orders Reconsideration of Canceled TRIO Grants Inside Higher Ed | Jan . 20, 2026 Trump's DEI Crackdown Closes 120 TRIO Programs Inside Higher Ed | Oct. 27, 2025 Trump Administration Delays $660M for College Access Programs Inside Higher Ed | Sept. 12 2025
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    1 h y 1 m
  • What Counts as a Professional Degree in 2026?

    What Counts as a Professional Degree in 2026?
    Jan 16 2026

    Valerie Fuller, president of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, visited the podcast to talk about how new federal loan limits will change what graduate students can borrow and why nursing may no longer be considered a professional degree. The hosts also looked at the appropriations outlook on Capitol Hill, negotiations on rulemaking to implement the One Big Beautiful Bill, and more.

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

    Graduate Loan Limits

    Valerie Fuller, president of American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP)

    Graduate and Professional Student Loan Limits Under the OBBB

    National Nurse Practitioner Organizations Express Concern Over Department of Education Negotiated Rulemaking
    Nov. 21, 2025

    AANP Advocacy Center

    Bills Introduced to Address Changes to Graduate Lending Programs
    NAICU Washington Update | Dec. 19, 2025

    Nurses Continue to Lead in Honesty and Ethics Ratings
    Gallup | Jan. 12, 2026

    Constitutionality of Race-Based Higher Education Grant Programs

    U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon Statement on the Office of Legal Counsel's Opinion on the Constitutionality of Race-Based Higher Education Grant Programs

    Negotiated Rulemaking

    Negotiated Rulemaking for Higher Education 2025
    Department of Education

    AHEAD Committee's Second Rulemaking Session Results in Consensus on Accountability Framework
    ACE | Jan. 12, 2026

    ED Panel Signs Off on New Earnings Test
    Inside Higher Ed | Jan. 9, 2026

    Negotiators Reach Consensus on Pell Regulations
    ACE | Dec. 15, 2025

    Consensus Reached on Workforce Pell, Earnings Test Looms
    Inside Higher Ed | Dec. 15, 2026
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    1 h
  • The dotEDU Wrap Party for Policy Nerds

    The dotEDU Wrap Party for Policy Nerds
    Dec 18 2025

    In this final episode of 2025, hosts Mushtaq Gunja, Sarah Spreitzer, and Jon Fansmith spend the hour taking questions on the policy shifts and challenges campuses are watching most closely and the developments expected to matter early in 2026.

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

    Lucy Dacus and Hozier, Bullseye

    Jason Isbell, Bury Me

    Stranger Things Season 5 (Netflix)
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    1 h
  • 2025 in Review: A Year That Redefined the Higher Ed Landscape

    2025 in Review: A Year That Redefined the Higher Ed Landscape
    Dec 4 2025

    The dotEDU hosts look back at a year that reshaped higher education in ways few expected back in January. Mushtaq, Sarah, and Jon talk through their top five stories of 2025, including the push to dismantle the Department of Education, the cuts at NIH and NSF, the sweeping changes in the One Big Beautiful Bill, and Congress's response to it all.

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

    Register now for ACEx, Feb. 25-28, 2026, in Washington, DC

    Higher Education & The Trump Administration: Resources

    Trump Administration Higher Ed Executive Order Tracker

    Full coverage of the 2nd Trump administration from The Chronicle of Higher Education

    The U.S. Is Funding Fewer Grants in Every Area of Science and Medicine
    The New York Times (sub. req.) | Oct. 3, 2025
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    1 h y 4 m