Page 5 - Us Universities

Facing funding cuts, Cornell, Brown look to short-term borrowing for cash

By tapping commercial paper or selling longer-term debt, colleges can keep their cash stockpiles to help weather the uncertainty

US colleges face funding cuts as Trump ties aid to policy compliance

After decades of partnership with the US government, colleges are facing new doubts about the future of their federal funding. President Donald Trump's administration has been using the funding spigot to seek compliance with his agenda, cutting off money to schools including Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania. All the while, universities across the country are navigating cuts to grants for research institutions. The squeeze on higher education underscores how much American colleges depend on the federal government a provider of grants and contracts that have amounted to close to half the total revenue of some research universities, according to an Associated Press analysis. It adds up to a crisis for universities, and a problem for the country as a whole, say school administrators and advocates for academic freedom. America's scientific and medical research capabilities are tightly entwined with its universities as part of a compact that started after World War

Under threat from Trump, Columbia University agrees to policy changes

Under threat from the Trump administration, Columbia University has agreed to implement a suite of policy changes, including overhauling its rules for protests and conducting an immediate review of its Middle Eastern studies department. The changes, detailed in a letter sent by interim president, Katrina Armstrong, came one week after the Trump administration ordered the Ivy League school to implement those and other changes in order to continue receiving federal funding, an ultimatum widely criticised in academia as an attack on academic freedom. In her letter, Armstrong said the university would immediately appoint a senior vice provost to conduct a thorough review of the portfolio of its regional studies programs, starting immediately with the Middle East. Columbia will also bar protests inside academic buildings and the wearing of face masks on campus for the purposes of concealing one's identity. An exception would be made for people wearing them for health reasons. The Trump

As Trump cuts funding, Europe looks to poach top researchers from the US

A coalition of 12 European governments is pushing for measures to attract US researchers as Trump's administration enforces deep funding cuts in education and research

Trump demands control at Columbia, alarming scholars and speech groups

The Trump administration brushed aside decades of precedent when it ordered Columbia University to oust the leadership of an academic department, a demand seen as a direct attack on academic freedom and a warning of what is to come for other colleges facing federal scrutiny. Federal officials told the university it must immediately place its Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies Department under "academic receivership for a minimum of five years". The demand was among several described as conditions for receiving federal funding, including USD 400 million already pulled over allegations of antisemitism. Across academia, it was seen as a stunning intrusion. "It is an escalation of a kind that is unheard of," said Joan Scott, a historian and member of the academic freedom committee of the American Association of University Professors. "Even during the McCarthy period in the United States, this was not done." President Donald Trump has been threatening to withhold federal .

Trump admin cancels $400 mn in grants, contracts with Columbia University

The Trump administration said Friday that it's pulling $400 million from Columbia University, cancelling grants and contracts because of what the government describes as the Ivy League school's failure to squelch antisemitism on campus. The notice came five days after federal agencies announced they were considering orders to stop work on $51 million in contracts with the New York City university and reviewing its eligibility for over $5 billion in federal grants going forward. And it came after Columbia set up a new disciplinary committee and ramped up its own investigations into students critical of Israel, alarming free speech advocates. But Columbia's efforts evidently didn't go far enough for the federal government. Universities must comply with all federal antidiscrimination laws if they are going to receive federal funding. For too long, Columbia has abandoned that obligation to Jewish students studying on its campus, Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement ...

As Trump goes after universities, students now on the chopping block

Members of the administration have cast the cuts as a way to reduce wasteful government spending, sometimes in political terms

'Gold cards' can help firms hire Ivy League, other US univ grads: Trump

The president, who unveiled the proposed programme on Tuesday alongside Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, predicted that it would be well received by businesses

Int'l students urged to return to US campuses before Trump inauguration

A growing number of US colleges and universities are advising international students to return to campus before President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated, over concerns that he might impose travel bans like he did during his first administration. More than a dozen schools have issued advisories, even though Trump's plans remain uncertain. At some schools, the spring semester begins before Trump will take office, so students may have to be back in class anyway. But for anyone whose ability to stay in the United States depends on an academic visa, they say it's best to reduce their risks and get back to campus before Jan. 20. Here's a look at what Trump has said and done and how schools and students are preparing for his second term: What did Trump do in the past? Trump issued an executive order in January 2017 banning travel to the US by citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen. Travellers from those nations were either

Lawsuit claims elite US universities favour wealthy students in admissions

Children of the wealthy and connected get special admissions consideration at some elite US universities, according to new filings in a class-action lawsuit originally brought against 17 schools. Georgetown's then-president, for example, listed a prospective student on his "president's list" after meeting her and her wealthy father at an Idaho conference known as "summer camp for billionaires", according to Tuesday court filings in the price-fixing lawsuit filed in Chicago federal court in 2022. Although it has always been assumed that such favouritism exists, the filings offer a rare peek at the often secret deliberations of university heads and admissions officials. They show how schools admit otherwise unqualified wealthy children because their parents have connections and could possibly donate large sums down the line, raising questions about fairness. Stuart Schmill, the dean of admissions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, wrote in a 2018 email that the university .

US colleges ask foreign students to get to campus before Trump takes office

"A travel ban is likely to go into effect soon after inauguration," Cornell's Office of Global Learning warned students on its website late last month, advising them to be back in the United States

US universities urge foreign students to return before Trump's swearing-in

Trump will take the oath of office on January 20 and has announced that he will sign several executive orders on issues of economy and immigration

India leads international student enrolments in US after 15 years: Report

More than 3.3 lakh Indians are studying in the US, making India the "top sender" of international students to America for the first time in 15 years, according to the Open Doors Report 2024 released on Monday. In the academic year 2022-23, the leading source country for international students in the US was China followed by India. According to the latest Open Doors Report, the number of Indian students studying in the US in the academic year 2023-24 is at an "all-time high" at 3,31,602, a rise of 23 per cent from 2022-23 when the number stood at 2,68,923. "India is now the leading country of origin for international students in the United States, accounting for 29 per cent of the total international student population," according to a note shared by the US Embassy on the Open Doors Report 2024. According to official data associated with the latest report, the top five source countries for international students in the US for 2023-24 are -- India, China (2,77,398), South Korea ...

5,000 students, 30 courses: Southampton University plans for Indian campus

The UK's Southampton University plans to offer 30 courses and enrol more than 5,000 students in the next eight years at its offshore campus in India, the first ever in the country by a foreign university, according to top officials. Elaborating on the university's agenda in an interview with PTI, Andrew Atherton, Vice President International and Engagement, said the operations of the campus coming up in the Delhi-National Capital Region will begin next year. The fees at the Indian campus are likely to be around 60 per cent of the tuition fees at the Southampton campus but the admission requirements will be the same, he said. The renowned university was granted a Letter of Intent earlier this week by the Indian government to set up its campus in the country. While Australia's Deakin University and the University of Wollongong have already set up campuses in GIFT City in Gujarat, the University of Southampton will be the first foreign university to set up an India campus under the UG

Columbia university President Shafik resigns after months of campus tumult

She will be replaced on an interim basis by Katrina Armstrong, chief executive officer of Columbia University Irving Medical Center

Indian charged for fraudulent admission in US university to return back

A 19-year-old Indian student, who was arrested and charged with falsifying records to gain admission in a US university, will have to return to India under a plea deal entered into with American authorities. Aryan Anand had submitted fake and falsified documents to secure admission into Lehigh University, a private research university in Pennsylvania for the 2023-2024 academic year. A report in the Lehigh University's student newspaper The Brown and White', said last month that a police investigation had found that Anand had falsified admission and financial aid documents. He had even faked his father's death as part of the conspiracy to obtain admission and scholarship, it said. Anand was arraigned by Magisterial District Judge Jordan Knisley on June 12, with a bail of USD 25,000. He pleaded guilty to one count of forgery. As part of the plea deal, he was sentenced to one to three months in Northampton County Prison, which amounted to a time-served sentence, lehighvalleylive.com .

Universities can offer admissions twice a year from 2024-25 session: UGC

From the 2024-25 academic session, the two admission cycles will be in July-August and January-February

4 US college instructors teaching at Chinese univ stabbed in public park

Four instructors from Iowa's Cornell College teaching at Beihua University in northeastern China were attacked in a public park, reportedly with a knife, officials at the US school and the State Department said. There was no immediate comment from Chinese authorities about Monday's reports. Cornell College President Jonathan Brand said in a statement that the instructors were attacked while at the park with a faculty member from Beihua, which is in an outlying part of the industrial city of Jilin. The State Department said in a statement it was aware of reports of a stabbing and was monitoring the situation. Details on the extent of the instructors' injuries and whether the attack was targeted or random were unclear Monday. Cornell spokesperson Jen Visser said in an email that the college was still gathering information on what happened. News of the incident was suppressed in China, where the government maintains control on information about anything considered sensitive. News med

Almost 30% of Americans say college degree not worth it in Pew survey

Half of US adults in the report think college is worth the cost, but only as long as they don't need to take out a loan

California Univ prez suspended for agreement with pro-Palestinian group

The chancellor of the California State University system has suspended the president of its Sonoma campus for announcing an agreement with pro-Palestinian activists to pursue an academic boycott of Israeli institutions as well as divestment strategies. The message by Sonoma State University President Ming-Tung Mike Lee was issued without the appropriate approvals, said Mildred Garca, chancellor of the 23-campus CSU system, in a statement Wednesday. For now, because of this insubordination and consequences it has brought upon the system, President Lee has been placed on administrative l?eave, Garca said. Lee quickly issued an apology for the agreement he announced Tuesday after meetings with students who set up a campus encampment, one of many that have appeared at colleges to protest Israel's actions in the war with Hamas and to press schools to cut ties with Israel and businesses that support it. My goal when meeting with students at the encampment was to explore opportunities to