Headlines in Higher Ed: Week of September 29th, 2025
New FAFSA released, fed’s Harvard ultimatum, and high-demand careers of the future
Newly Launched FAFSA Form Received Positively, According to Ed Dept
Last week, the U.S. Department of Education made the 2026-27 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form available to all students eight days ahead of the required October 1st launch date. This marks its earliest release since transitioning to an online format nearly two decades ago. The form includes several updates aimed at improving the user experience, such as a streamlined process for inviting parents to contribute financial details and a faster account verification system. Over a two-month beta phase, more than 40,000 applications were started with 27,000 submitted. The agency claims that 97% of respondents surveyed expressed satisfaction with the process.
U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon
The early launch follows issues faced during the 2023 disaster, which was delayed by technical problems after a major redesign, its first in over 40 years. Secretary McMahon took the opportunity to criticize the previous administration’s handling while praising Trump’s and her own efforts. While progress has been made, concerns persist about whether the system is fully equipped to handle the increased volume of applications and complex eligibility checks. Still, the department’s quick action this year is a hopeful sign of improvement for students across the country. The form can be found on StudentAid.gov.
Rapid Recap
🧪 Judge Rules Reinstatement of UCLA Grants Nearly nearly all of UCLA’s $500 million in frozen research funding has been temporarily restored after a judge’s ruling that the government unfairly withheld them.
🚀 Purdue Launching Into Space Purdue University is teaming up with Virgin Galactic to send a professor, a grad student, and three alumni into space in 2027 to conduct research in zero gravity, marking a historic all-Purdue mission called Purdue 1.
📊 New College Rankings: U.S. News Despite a year of big challenges in higher education, the latest U.S. News & World Report college rankings stayed mostly the same, with top schools like Princeton and MIT holding their spots
👉 Feds Give Harvard 20 Days to Comply or Face Consequences The U.S. Department of Education has ordered Harvard University to hand over admissions records within 20 days or risk losing access to federal student aid, as part of an investigation into alleged racial discrimination. Go on…
Feds Give Harvard 20 Days to Comply or Face Consequences
The department also placed Harvard on a financial watch list two weeks ago, citing instability driven by actions from the Trump administration itself. Though Harvard remains the wealthiest university in the nation, it has shown signs of financial strain through hiring freezes, layoffs, and administrative pay cuts. The Education Department now requires Harvard to post a $36 million letter of credit and flagged a recent $1 billion bond sale as a potential risk. Student federal aid remains accessible for now, but the university’s long-term access to that funding is all but certain.
Future In-Demand Jobs: Careers Most Likely to Experience Talent Shortages
A new report from Georgetown University shows that the U.S. is facing a major shortage of college-educated workers, especially in fields like teaching, nursing, accounting, engineering, law, medicine, and management. This is because millions of older workers are retiring, and there aren’t enough younger, college-educated people to replace them. The report highlights that students from underrepresented racial and low-income backgrounds could help fill these high-demand roles if they get more support and barriers to higher education are reduced. Do any of the listed projected opportunities stand out?
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