Headlines in Higher Ed: Week of July 14th, 2025
AP results, latest govt offensive on Harvard, and how much funding did your district lose?
2025 AP Exam Results and Student Feedback
In 2025, AP exam results showed notable trends, particularly with subjects like AP English Language, AP Physics 1, and AP Environmental Science, all of which saw significant increases in students earning scores of 3 or higher compared to 2024. AP Research, AP Seminar, and AP Languages (French, Spanish, Chinese) emerged as top performers, with over 85% of students scoring 3 or above. The College Board’s transition towards digital exams is seen as a step forward in improving exam security and reliability. Also, for the first time, the College Board released results of a survey to gauge student satisfaction with AP courses.
Trevor Packer, Head of the AP program at the College Board
While participation in AP courses grew by 7%, satisfaction levels varied. AP Calculus BC, AP U.S. Government, and AP Calculus AB ranked the highest in terms of student satisfaction, reflecting their engaging content and relevance to future college studies. On the other hand, language courses like AP Italian and AP Japanese scored the lowest, as students found them challenging and harder to relate to real-life applications. In response, the College Board announced revisions to improve these courses, including the introduction of projects to enhance student engagement.
Rapid Recap
⚖️ Post-Affirmative Action: Impact Following the Supreme Court's 2023 decision banning affirmative action in college admissions, a new report shows that while the number of Black and Hispanic applicants has increased, acceptance rates have declined.
🛑 UC Takes Stand Against Financial Boycotts of Israeli Links The University of California president recently reaffirmed that student governments cannot financially boycott companies based on their ties to specific countries, including Israel.
👋 Boston University Removes 240 Positions Laying off 120 staff, about 1% of employees, and eliminating another 120 vacant positions as part of a 5% budget reduction, the measures are a response to federal funding cuts and rising costs.
🏫 Harvard’s Accreditation in Danger The Trump administration has escalated its pressure on Harvard University, accusing the Ivy League institution of violating federal antidiscrimination laws. Go on…
Harvard’s Accreditation in Danger
Federal agencies, including the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services (HHS), have informed Harvard’s accreditor, the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE), of “strong evidence” suggesting that Harvard no longer meets accreditation standards, citing the harassment of Jewish and Israeli students on campus. A potential loss of its accreditation would cut off its ability to receive federal funding. This comes after an internal report from Harvard acknowledged incidents of antisemitism, while also recognizing harassment of Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian students. The Trump administration has focused primarily on the antisemitism claims, using them as leverage to block international student admissions and cutting billions in funding. Harvard, however, continues to defend its actions, arguing that these accusations are politically motivated, while insisting it is committed to protecting all students from discrimination.
How Much Did Your District Lose?
A majority of the 13,000 public school districts in the U.S. are facing a significant reduction in federal funding for the upcoming school year, as the Trump administration has withheld almost 6.8 billion dollars approved by Congress in March. This disruption is impacting various funding streams, including those for migrant education, professional development, English-learner services, academic enrichment, and before- and after-school programs. Some districts will lose just a small amount, but many will face larger shortfalls, running into millions of dollars. Researchers from New America recently released an analysis and found that many districts will have to adjust their budgets because they won’t receive the federal funds they expected. While the exact figures vary by state and district, the interactive table on their website displays the amount loss per student for each district.
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