PURPOSE

CURRICULUM

2    Viewpoint Diversity Concerns—and a Proposed Solution
SourcesHigher Ed’s Misguided Purging of Trump Supporters (Chronicle of Higher Education)
Opening the Floor (Inside Higher Ed)
Lehigh University Gives Faculty a Lesson in the Price of Wrongthink (American Enterprise Institute)
Campus Cancel Culture—Pernicious and Widespread (James G. Martin Center)
Seeing Red and Feeling Blue—America’s Rotten National Mood (Wall Street Journal)
Political Reality on North Carolina Campuses: Examining Policy Debates and Forums With Diverse Viewpoints (James G. Martin Center)
Further Reading
Will Liberals Reclaim Free Speech? (Wall Street Journal)
Lehigh University Professor’s Remarks about Race and Poverty Draw Criticism from Students, Faculty (Morning Call)
Roadmap for Progressivism (City Journal)
Stanford Mob’s Attempt to Cancel Hoover Institution Scholars Fails (The Federalist)
On Free Speech at Stanford (Stanford Review)
‘Let’s Be Reasonable’ Review: How to Elevate Higher Learning (Wall Street Journal)
Professional Accountability or Shameless Pandering? (Inside Higher Ed)

Letter from Nadine Strossen to Columbia President Lee Bollinger (Academe Blog)
‘An Endangered Species’: The Scarcity of Harvard’s Conservative Faculty (Harvard Crimson)
How Students Are Furthering Academe’s Corporatization (Chronicle of Higher Education)
In Defense of the N-word: Context Should Determine its Adoption by Professors  (NAS Minding the Campus)
‘Everybody Is a Target Right Now’: A University’s Sacking of a Tenured Critic Sends Shock Waves  (Chronicle of Higher Education)
The Origins of the Cruel Ritual of Diversity Training (James G. Martin Center)
Are Humanities Professors Moral Experts? (Chronicle of Higher Education)

Biden Embraces Critical Race Theory and Radical Indoctrination About Race and History  (NAS Minding the Campus)
3   Curricular Fights—Lawmakers Step In
Sources
He Wants to Save Classics From Whiteness. Can the Field Survive? (New York Times Magazine)
Howard University’s Removal of Classics Is a Spiritual Catastrophe (Washington Post)
Students and faculty fight to save classics department at Howard University (Washington Post)
A Georgia Lawmaker Asked How Colleges Teach ‘Privilege’ and ‘Oppression.’ Here’s How They Responded. (Chronicle of Higher Education)
Roadmap for Progressivism (City Journal)
Should I Get Canceled for Telling the Emperor He Has No Clothes On? (Minding the Campus)
Supporters of Anti-Woke Laws Haven’t Thought It Through (Arc Digital)  
Heating Up Culture Wars, France to Scour Universities for Ideas That ‘Corrupt Society’ (New York Times)
French Rejection (New Criterion)
Further Reading
Roadmap for Progressivism (City Journal)A New Path for Classics (Chronicle of Higher Education)
Is it time to cancel Sophocles? (Spectator USA)
The Classics Survived University Witch Hunts Before, And Will Do It Again (The Federalist)
Howard Students Protest Cut of Classics Department, Hub for Black Scholarship (New York Times)
Deconstruction, Identity and the Dying Art of Criticism (Wall Street Journal)
Put America Back in American Foreign Policy Curricula (James G. Martin Center)
Congress Plays at Anti-Civics  (Public Discourse)
Online college enrollment growth outpaces real-world institutions (EdScoop)
Academic Libraries Led Universities Into the Socially Distant Era. Now They’re Planning for What’s Next. (Chronicle of Higher Education)Will a Rise in Online Learning Open Remote Teaching Opportunities for Faculty? (EdSurge)
Space programmes boom as private-sector exploration takes off (Times Higher Education)
Too many graduates don’t get a crack at tech careers. Colleges could change that. (Chronicle of Higher Education)

COMMUNITY

4    Town and Gown Relationships Vary
Sources
Higher Education Has a Tax Problem and It’s Hurting Local Communities (Time)
A County Turns Against Its College  (Chronicle of Higher Education)
Chapel Hill and UNC have a plan to boost town’s economy and bring businesses downtown (News Observer)
Further Reading
For Town & Gown, a Pandemic Pressure Test  (Chronicle of Higher Education)

    GOVERNANCE

TRUSTEESHIP

5   Students Paid to Take Spring Break “Staycations”Sources
UC Davis Pays Students to Cancel Spring Break (The College Post)
A university is offering students $75 to skip spring break (Washington Post)
Colleges Canceled Spring Break, But Students Are Traveling Anyway (NPR)

ADMINISTRATION

8   Big Brother Knocking: Put That BioButton On!  
SourceThe Surveilled Student (Chronicle of Higher Education)
Further Reading
Some Campuses Have Already Eclipsed Their Fall Covid-19 Case Totals. What’s Going On? (Chronicle of Higher Education)
For Town & Gown, a Pandemic Pressure Test (Chronicle of Higher Education)
Too Much for Students to Handle? Why One University Decided to Do Away With RAs (Chronicle of Higher Education)
How to Manage Through Emotional Exhaustion (Chronicle of Higher Education)
Science foundation could get US$600m in pandemic relief (University World News)
24 Hours in Higher Ed, One Year into the Pandemic (Chronicle of Higher Education)
A child-care crisis that forced millions of Americans to drop out of the work force this year has ramifications for higher ed. (Chronicle of Higher Education)
COVID-Era College: Are Students Satisfied? (Inside Higher Ed)
Report Details Covid-19’s Massive Impact on Student Food Insecurity (Diverse Education)
College Financial Grades 2021: Will Your Alma Mater Survive Covid? (Forbes)
The Scholar With the Skeleton Key (Chronicle of Higher Education)
Covid Makes Doctorates Harder to Get—and That’s Good (Wall Street Journal)
Five Intuitions to Guide Assessment in 2021 and After (Ed Week)
The Brutalization of College Students During Lockdowns (American Institute for Economic Research)
Covid ‘support’ for female scientists may be backfiring, US told (Times Higher Education)
Tracking how the coronavirus is impacting colleges (Higher Ed Dive)
Campus Covid spread tied to small number of highly infected cases (Times Higher Education)

College Database Bill Raises Concerns About Student Privacy  (Inside Higher Ed)

10    Colleges Jump on Vaccine Bandwagon Despite Some Experts Urging Caution
SourcesRutgers to require students have COVID vaccine by fall (University Business)
Here’s a List of Colleges That Will Require Students or Employees to Be Vaccinated Against Covid-19 (Chronicle of Higher Education)
The Vaccination Dilemma (Chronicle of Higher Education)
American, Georgetown universities join growing list of campuses to require coronavirus vaccines (Washington Post)
Should College Students Be Prioritized for Covid-19 Vaccines Now? (Chronicle of Higher Education)
Prospective Students Are Open to Vaccine Requirements (Inside Higher Education)
Texas and Utah Bar Public Colleges From Requiring Covid-19 Vaccines (Chronicle of Higher Education)
University of North Carolina System said it has no ‘legal authority’ to mandate COVID vaccines (College Fix)
Further ReadingCornell Plans to Require Students to Be Vaccinated for Fall Semester (Chronicle of Higher Education)
How One University Is Preparing for a Vaccine Blitz (Chronicle of Higher Education)
As states expand vaccine eligibility, universities make a push to inoculate all students (Washington Post)
Resident assistants, campus housing staff push for access to coronavirus vaccines (Washington Post)
University of Illinois expels remote student for not coming to campus to get tested for COVID (College Fix)
Covid-19 Campus Changes: Testing and Sequestering Students (James G. Martin Center)
U. of Illinois Saliva Test Gets Green Light From FDA (Chronicle of Higher Education)
Did You Know? The Campus Covid-19 Plan That Worked (James G. Martin Center)
When the Campus Becomes a Lab to Study Covid (Chronicle of Higher Education)
Rutgers Will Require Proof of Covid-19 Vaccination to Attend in the Fall (Chronicle of Higher Education)
A Campaign to Get Needles in Arms (Chronicle of Higher Education)
Rutgers says students need Covid vaccine before campus return (Times Higher Education)
Students Are Ready to Enroll Regardless of Covid-19 Precautions, Survey Finds (Chronicle of Higher Education)
How academia shunned the science behind the Covid vaccine (Times Higher Education)
A COVID Testing Collaboration (Inside Higher Ed)

For colleges and universities, fingers are crossed for in-person graduations (Washington Post)
George Washington University’s decision to hold second virtual graduation draws mixed reactions (Washington Post)
California’s massive UC and Cal State systems plan to require COVID-19 vaccinations this fall (Los Angeles Times)
US campuses quickly adopting student vaccination rules (Times Higher Education)
100 U.S. Colleges will Require Vaccinations to Attend In-Person Classes in the Fall. (New York Times)
Here’s a List of Colleges That Will Require Students or Employees to Be Vaccinated Against Covid-19 (Chronicle of Higher Education)
State-by-state look at colleges requiring COVID-19 vaccines (University Business)
California Covid-19 recovery plan envisions more equity (Hechinger Report)
ACHA: Colleges Should Require Coronavirus Vaccines This Fall (Higher Ed Dive)
UPenn Turns Sensible COVID Policy Into Showcase for Woke Junk Science  (RealClear Policy)
The Vaccination Dilemma  (Chronicle of Higher Education)
Vaccine Politics  (Inside Higher Ed)
12    Sharp Rise in Ransomware Attacks Against Colleges

Source
Shift online exposed and expanded college cybersecurity vulnerabilities (Higher Ed Dive)
13    Pandemic Forces Colleges and Families to Get Creative About Campus Tours
SourcesCan’t Make Your College Tour? The Campus Will Come to You (Wall Street Journal)
Why can’t a company unleash irrepressible undergraduates as campus guides? (Washington Post)
14   It Was the Best of Times…for Some Admissions Officers

Sources 
Vaccine Timing ‘Fortunate’ for Admissions (Inside Higher Ed)
Applications boom, admit rates plummet: Prestige college admissions get a little crazier in the pandemic (Washington Post)
Interest Surges in Top Colleges, While Struggling Ones Scrape for Applicants (New York Times)
Ivy League Acceptance Rates Fall to Record Lows Due to Covid-19 (Wall Street Journal)
Further Reading
Common App: Interest in selective schools soars among international and first-gen students (Higher Ed Dive)
More students applied to top colleges this year. How making test scores optional opened the field. (Washington Post)
Expect College Wait Lists to Be Obnoxiously Long This Year (Wall Street Journal)
Lawyer Convicted in College-Admissions Scandal Avoids Disbarment (Wall Street Journal)

The Endless Sensation of Application Inflation (Chronicle of Higher Education)
From admissions to teaching to grading, AI is infiltrating higher education (Hechinger Report)  
In Defense of Holistic Admissions (Chronicle of Higher Education)  
The Case Against Admissions Lotteries (Chronicle of Higher Education)  
Courts Skeptical on COVID-19 Tuition Lawsuits (Inside Higher Ed)
15     It Was the Worst of Times…for Some StudentsSourcesAs admissions season descends, warning signs appear for low-income applicants  (Washington Post)
As elite college applications soar, legacy admissions still give wealthy and connected students an edge (Hechinger Report)
Another Uncertain Admissions Cycle for International Students  (Inside Higher Ed)Further ReadingIs It Harder to Get Into College in 2021? (Wall Street Journal)
College applications in pandemic year show deepening inequities in access to higher education  (CNN)
College Admission Season Is Crazier Than Ever. That Could Change Who Gets In. (Wall Street Journal)
As admissions season descends, wealthier applicants once again have the advantage (Hechinger Report)
Elite colleges still giving wealthy and connected students a ‘legacy admissions’ edge during pandemic (Washington Post)
Another Uncertain Admissions Cycle for International Students (Inside Higher Ed)
The Most Onerous Form in College Admissions (Chronicle of Higher Education)
‘Little Platoons’ Review: The Price Of Admission (Wall Street Journal)
16     Future times: Post-Pandemic, What Changes Will Stick?
SourcesThe Future of Admissions  (Chronicle of Higher Education)
Showing stingy Ivies how to become less selective but much better (Washington Post)
How to sabotage your chance of getting into college (Washington Post)
Further ReadingUC Merced to guarantee freshman admission to eligible local students, a first for the system (Los Angeles Times)
Group that sued Harvard asks Supreme Court to end use of race in college admissions (Washington Post)
How Can State Funding Models Incentivize Equity? (Inside Higher Ed)

Undergraduate Enrollments This Spring See Steepest Drop Since Pandemic Began (Chronicle of Higher Education)
Steep Enrollment Declines This Spring (Inside Higher Ed)
U.S. College Enrollment Hits Two-Decade Low in 2020 (Bloomberg)
'Corporations are becoming the new universities of the future,' Pearson CEO says (Yahoo Finance)

Some universities’ response to budget woes: Making faculty teach more courses (Hechinger Report)
Federal Relief Aid Is Complicating Budget Season for Some Public Colleges (Higher Ed Dive)
Provosts Face the Pandemic (Inside Higher Ed)

Chair of University of California board of regents is considering 40% 'reduction' to campus police  (Campus Reform)
Bringing Abolition to the Ivory Tower  (Academe)
Campus Police and the AAUP  (Academe Blog)

Governance Boards and the Cost of Attending Public Colleges and Universities (Academe)
How one Utah university is offering an online bachelor's degree for $9,000 (Higher Ed Dive)
Online college enrollment growth outpaces real-world institutions (EdScoop)
17     Colleges Resort to “Transcript Ransom” in Response to Unpaid FeesSources 
Colleges are withholding transcripts and degrees from millions over unpaid bills (Hechinger Report)
UMass Boston Relaxes Policy on Withholding Transcripts for Any Debt Owed (GBH News)
Further Reading
The obscure debt holding back thousands of students (MarketWatch)
Some colleges are withholding degrees over unpaid fees; advocates push for action (TheDenverChannel.com)

campus LIFE

18     Was Cornel West Too Radical for Harvard? Sources 
Dr. Cornel West Is Leaving Harvard for Union Theological Seminary (Diverse Education)
Doctoral Students Release Letter Denouncing Harvard’s Decision to Deny Cornel West Tenure (Diverse Education)
Cornel West: ‘My Ridiculous Situation at Harvard’ (Chronicle of Higher Education)
Are Social Justice and Tenure Compatible? (Chronicle of Higher Education)
19    Students’ Mental Health Struggles and Food Insecurities Worsened During the PandemicSources
A mental health crisis was spreading on college campuses. The pandemic has made it worse. (Washington Post)
Hunger-Free Campus Bills Have New Urgency (Inside Higher Ed)
Further Reading
George Washington University commits to single-use-plastic ban (Washington Post)
6 Things We Can’t Afford to Lose When Campus Life Resumes (Chronicle of Higher Education)
Colleges Break From Corporate Dining Services (Inside Higher Ed)
Could a Wellness Check Have Saved One Student’s Life? (Chronicle of Higher Education)
Professional Accountability or Shameless Pandering? (Inside Higher Ed)
Students anxious over Toronto mental health tactics (Times Higher Education)
Police-University Partnerships (New York Times)

The Pandemic and Campus Substance Use: What Colleges Need to Know Now (American Council of Trustees and Alumni)
Free to Be Greek (RealClearEducation)  
Eight charged after fraternity hazing death on US campus (Times Higher Education)    
How Students Are Furthering Academe’s Corporatization (Chronicle of Higher Education)

     PUBLIC TRUST

Critique

20   Goodbye, Columbus 
SourcesHow the College Board Mangles the Teaching of History (James G. Martin Center)
Why This Popular College Guide Will Stop Publishing ACT and SAT Score Ranges
(Chronicle of Higher Education) Further Reading
Writing professors push for ‘labor-based grading’ and de-emphasis on writing errors (College Fix)
Good Grades, Stressed Students (Chronicle of Higher Education)
This STEM College Will Stop Looking at ACT and SAT Scores. Its Admissions Dean Explains Why. (Chronicle of Higher Education)
Most Colleges With In-Person Classes Didn’t Use Surveillance Testing This Spring (Chronicle of Higher Education)
Woke Educators’ War on Tests (Daily Signal)
The Covid Effect: Most Colleges Will Keep Test-Optional Policies for Good (Chronicle of Higher Education)
Five Intuitions to Guide Assessment in 2021 and After (Education Week)

Sorry, Professor, We’re Cutting You Off (Wall Street Journal)
Exposing Social Justice Ideology in Higher Education (American Mind)
Campus Ideology's Slippery Slope (Newsweek)
The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly: Purdue, Howard, And The U Of Texas (Forbes)
Data Snapshot: Whom Does Campus Reform Target and What Are the Effects? (Academe)

Milton versus the mob  (Aeon)Scholars: History Textbooks Skew American History (National Association of Scholars)  
The Birth of Black Power (The American Scholar)  
The Man They Couldn’t Cancel (Wall Street Journal)

The Decline of American Universities  (Daily Signal)
The ‘Flagship’ Folly  (Chronicle of Higher Education)

The Controversial but Useful Practice of ‘Ungrading’ in Teaching Writing  (Chronicle of Higher Education)
21   Academic Freedom Threats—and How to Respond? 
SourcesAcademic Freedom in Crisis: Punishment, Political Discrimination, and Self-Censorship (Center for the Study of Partisanship and Ideology)
When Academic Bullies Claim the Mantle of Free Speech (Chronicle of Higher Education)
Universities Face Fines as Part of ‘Twin Assault’ on Cancel Culture (The Telegraph)
Fighting Back, At Last (Persuasion)
How to Defend Free Speech (National Affairs)
Further Reading
Academic Freedom Is Withering (Wall Street Journal)
A Necessary Intervention (City Journal)
Claiming the Mantle of Academic Freedom (Academe Blog)
Higher Education: Free Speech and Academic Freedom (UK Department for Education)
The Academic Freedom Alliance: A Q&A with Keith Whittington (Academe Blog)
A New Group Promises to Protect Professors’ Free Speech (Chronicle of Higher Education)
Academic Freedom in Online Education (American Association of University Professors)
University Investigates Professor for Criticizing Communist Regime (Minding the Campus)
Silenced by the Sheep: Academia’s New Censorship (James G. Martin Center)

University of Richmond president provides a sorely needed model of campus leadership (AEIdeas)
Ronald Crutcher’s Racial Reckoning (Chronicle of Higher Education)
How Students Are Furthering Academe’s Corporatization (Chronicle of Higher Education)
CU Boulder faculty to vote on first-of-its-kind censure of university President Mark Kennedy  (Denver Post)
‘That Man Makes Me Crazy’ (Chronicle of Higher Education)
This Trustee Was Censured by His Board. Now the Supreme Court Will Weigh In. (Chronicle of Higher Education)
Trustee Candidate Vetting Groups Are Dangerous for Higher Education Governance (American Council of Trustees and Alumni)

The Trouble with Faculty Hiring Booms in a Politicized Time  (James G. Martin Center)

Regulation

22   Biden Administration Looks Into Overhauling Betsy DeVos’s Title IX 
SourcesBiden Orders Review of Trump Policy Related to Campus Sexual Assaults (Wall Street Journal)
Biden’s “Comprehensive Review” of Title IX (National Association of Scholars)
Further Reading
House Votes to Give Millions of Dreamers and Farmworkers a Path to Citizenship (New York Times)
‘Equity’ for Asian-Americans in Practice (Wall Street Journal)
“Equity”? (Minding the Campus)
Trump’s deregulation failure leaves unfinished business for Biden (Times Higher Education)
Biden admin drops support of female athletes after transgender executive order (Campus Reform)
Biden set to roll back Trump rules on campus sexual assault (Times Higher Education)
Biden Likely to Change Policies on Transgender Athletes (Inside Higher Ed)
Scholars wary of Biden’s opening salvo on foreign research ties (Times Higher Education)
Another Hint? Interpreting How the Biden Administration Will Approach Title IX Regulations (DuaneMorris.com)
‘Inaction’ on rolling back Trump-era immigration rules criticised (Times Higher Education)

Biden Will Revisit Trump Rules on Campus Sexual Assault (New York Times)
On Title IX, Dems Move to Restore Obama-Era Unfairness (RealClear Politics)
Bill ties federal funding for universities to accountability for sex abuse cases (Detroit News)
Christian college fights Biden policy that forces schools to open dorms to opposite sex (College Fix)
Tensions Over Campus Sexual Assault Roil U. of Arkansas (Chronicle of Higher Education)

Debate Over Transgender Athletes Sweeps Through U.S. Statehouses (Wall Street Journal)
23   Courts Weigh in on Hot-Button Free Expression Issues 
SourcesSupreme Court Rules Against Georgia Gwinnett in Free Speech Suit (College Post)
Another Win for Christian Student Group at University of Iowa (Inside Higher Ed)
A Professor Was Reprimanded for Refusing to Use a Transgender Student’s Pronouns. A Court Says He Can Sue (Washington Post)
Judge: Syracuse had ‘no rational basis’ for suspending frat over alleged harassment by non-student; calls university’s actions ‘troubling’ (FIRE)
Further Reading
Judge Rebukes Syracuse for Repeatedly Violating Its Own Policies to Punish Innocent Fraternity (College Fix)

US states’ attacks on critical race theory continue post-Trump  (Times Higher Education)
Idaho Lawmakers Think Critical Race Theory Can ‘Exacerbate and Inflame Divisions.’ So They Passed a Law Against It. (Chronicle of Higher Education)
Reclaiming American higher education: Idaho is cutting off social justice universities (College Fix)
State legislatures continue efforts to restrict academic freedom (FIRE)
Biden Embraces Critical Race Theory and Radical Indoctrination About Race and History (NAS Minding the Campus)
Congress Plays at Anti-Civics (Public Discourse)

This Trustee Was Censured by His Board. Now the Supreme Court Will Weigh In. (Chronicle of Higher Education)
Supreme Court hears case on student speech rights in the social media age (Power Line)
The Complicated Case of the Pennsylvania Cheerleader (The New Yorker)
A Christian College Sues to Protect Its Values Against the Federal Leviathan (James G. Martin Center)

Bill would give federal agencies new oversight of colleges' foreign dealings (Higher Ed Dive)
Hundreds of Taxpayer-Funded US Scientists Likely Compromised by China: NIH (Epoch Times)
US universities facing toughened rules on foreign funding (Times Higher Education)  
College of William & Mary Closes Confucius Institute (Diverse)
China on campus: Confucius Institutes collapse nationwide (Washington Examiner)

 external ORDERs

Tertiary Education

24     Buyer Beware: Deceptive Advertising and Predatory Student LoansSourceUPhoenix Students to Receive $50 Million Over Deceptive Ads (College Post)
Left in the lurch by for-profit college direct loans (Hechinger Report)
Further Reading147,000 University of Phoenix students are being sent direct payments in deceptive advertising settlement (Yahoo Finance)
A New Report Reveals The False Promises Of For-Profit Colleges (Forbes)
Key Moments From Elizabeth Warren’s Blockbuster Hearing On Student Loans (Forbes)

Profits grew while students were hurt by a law intended to protect them (Hechinger Report)  

Politics

25     Biden’s $1.8 Trillion American Families Plan Would Greatly Expand the Federal Role in EducationSourcesBiden’s mammoth education agenda would expand the federal role from cradle to college (Washington Post)
Fact Sheet: The American Families Plan (The White House)
Biden asks Congress for $109B to make tuition free at community colleges (Higher Ed Dive)
Biden Proposes Free Community College, Pell Expansion (Inside Higher Ed)
A Big Plan, but Will Biden Get the Votes? (Inside Higher Ed)
Further Reading
A Big Budget From Biden (Inside Higher Ed)
Joe Biden Is a Transformational President (New York Times)
Stimulus Bill Transforms Options For State and Local Governments (New York Times)
Biden’s Billions for Higher Ed (Inside Higher Ed)
Civics Bill Would Devote $6 Billion to Woke Education (Epoch Times)
Department of Education Discharges Over $1.6 billion in HBCU Capital Finance Debt (U.S. Department of Education)
Biden challenges universities to meet surge in training demand (Times Higher Education)
Biden Infrastructure Plan Includes $12 Billion For Community Colleges (Forbes)

It Is Time to Invest in Colleges and Universities (Academe)
Bold Action for Higher Education (Academe)
Budget Justice (Academe)

Going Big (Inside Higher Ed)
Biden’s Proposed Education Spending Spree Is Untenable, Unaffordable (Daily Signal)
Education Is ‘Civil Rights Issue,’ Says Sen. Tim Scott (Daily Signal)
26     Free Community College: Lots of Details Need to Be ResolvedSourcesThe Biden Plan for Free Community College Has a Big Challenge (New York Times)
Higher education leaders praise Biden’s tuition-free college plan: ‘A revolutionary proposal’ (Washington Post)
Further Reading
How Biden’s infrastructure plan may fracture the nation’s colleges (Politico)
US universities want Biden to strike new funding pact with states (Times Higher Education)
Community colleges at a crossroads: Enrollment is plummeting, but political clout is growing (Washington Post)
Rural regions are struggling, and so are the community colleges and tribal colleges that serve them (Chronicle of Higher Education)
For Community-College Students, It’s Been a Tough Year (Chronicle of Higher Education)
The Pandemic Hit the Working Class Hard. The Colleges That Serve Them Are Hurting, Too (New York Times)

Free College Offer Lures Thousands (Inside Higher Education)
What Rhode Island can teach the country about free community college (Boston Globe)
Free community college? A few words of caution (The Hill)
27     Former Obama Advisor Likely to Be Confirmed as Department of Education Under SecretarySourcesSenate Committee Likely to Approve Kvaal (Inside Higher Ed)
Top Higher Education Post (Inside Higher Ed)
Further Reading
Biden rules out canceling $50,000 in student debt — but Schumer and Warren plan to keep pushing him (CNBC)
Federal student aid chief backed by DeVos resigns (Washington Post)
Biden Nominee’s Racist Claims About Whites Weren’t Satirical (Minding the Campus)
Three ways James Kvaal can lead postsecondary education forward (The Hill)
A Dubious Choice (City Journal)

Former CFPB director Richard Cordray tapped to head federal student aid office (Washington Post)
Meet the Man Now at the Center of the Debate Over Student Debt  (New York Times)
Biden admin taps Rich Cordray, former CFPB chief, to oversee federal student loans (Politico)
New Head of Student-Aid Programs Signals Focus on Loan Forgiveness and For-Profit Colleges (Chronicle of Higher Education)

Vacant Positions at Department of Education (Inside Higher Ed)
28     Moving Closer to Canceling Student Debt for AllSourcesBiden at odds with Democratic leaders over lawmakers’ call to cancel up to $50,000 in federal student debt (Washington Post)
Congress makes student debt forgiveness tax-free, limits revenue that for-profit colleges get from enrolling veterans (Washington Post)
More Debt Relief for Defrauded Students (Chronicle of Higher Education)
More Than a Million Student-Loan Holders to Get Relief  (Wall Street Journal)
Further Reading
Cardona extends pause in student loan payments to 1 million borrowers with defaulted loans (Washington Post)
A First Move on Borrower Defense (Inside Higher Ed)
Tax Forgiveness for Student Loan Forgiveness (Wall Street Journal)
A First Move on Borrower Defense (Inside Higher Ed)
Biden administration waives rule for disabled borrowers, but advocates say much more could be done (Washington Post)
The government is pausing payments for more student loans, but only if they’re in default. (New York Times)
29     IDRs: The Overlooked Alternative to Mass Loan Forgiveness
SourcesCOLUMN: Cancel all student debt (Hechinger Report)
Fixing income-driven repayment for federal student loans (American Enterprise Institute)
Further Reading
The U.S. already has student debt forgiveness—but barely anyone gets it (CNBC)
We Already Have an Alternative to Massive Student-Loan Cancellation (National Review)
30     Student Debt: To Forgive or Not to Forgive?SourcesInteractive: Explore who gains most from canceling student debt (Hechinger Report)
Student-Loan Forgiveness Shifts Burden to the Working Class (RealClearEducation)
Would Canceling Student Debt Promote Racial Equity? (Inside Higher Ed)
Biden is right to reject calls to forgive $50,000 in student debt (AEI)
Further Reading
The Great Student Loan Scam (Wall Street Journal)
What’s still up for debate when it comes to student debt forgiveness (CNBC)
COLUMN: Cancel all student debt (Hechinger Report)
A More Targeted Approach to Student Loan Forgiveness (Urban Institute)
Struggling With Mounting Student Debt (New York Times)

Is the U.S. Student Loan Program in a Deep Hole? One Banker Thinks So. (Wall Street Journal)