higher-education-policy
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- NewsInside Higher Ed24 Jul 2026
White House Seeks to Steer More Research Funding Away From Academia
The White House released a new science and research strategy that aims to redirect more federal research funding away from academia, though it does not completely eliminate higher education's role. The implications for universities and research institutions remain uncertain.
Original abstract
<span>White House Seeks to Steer More Research Funding Away From Academia</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-image field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://www.insidehighered.com/sites/default/files/2026-07/Lab_workers_science_office_GettyImages-490527337_edit.jpg" width="1200" height="801" alt="Scientists working at a mostly empty laboratory."> </div> <span><span>Ryan Quinn</span></span> <span><time datetime="2026-07-24T03:00:00-04:00" title="Friday, July 24, 2026 - 03:00 AM">Fri, 07/24/2026 - 03:00 AM</time> </span> <p><span>In its new strategy for science and research, the administration stopped short of jettisoning higher ed’s role in America’s scientific enterprise. What it all means remains to be seen.</span></p> <div class="field field--name-field-authors field--type-entity-reference field--label-inline clearfix"> <div class="field__label">Byline(s)</div> <div class="field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/author/ryan-quinn" hreflang="en">Ryan Quinn</a></div> </div> </div>
- NewsInside Higher Ed24 Jul 2026
3 Programmatic Accreditors Withdraw From Federal Recognition
Three programmatic accreditors have withdrawn from federal recognition, with Education Under Secretary Nicholas Kent attributing the move to the Trump administration's higher standards, though at least one accrediting group disputes this characterization.
Original abstract
<span>3 Programmatic Accreditors Withdraw From Federal Recognition</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-image field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://www.insidehighered.com/sites/default/files/2026-07/Chiropractor_Adjusting_GettyImages-1962457513_edit.jpg" width="1200" height="800" alt="Chiropractor adjusting a clients upper back while they lay face down."> </div> <span><span>jessica.blake@…</span></span> <span><time datetime="2026-07-24T03:00:00-04:00" title="Friday, July 24, 2026 - 03:00 AM">Fri, 07/24/2026 - 03:00 AM</time> </span> <p>Education Under Secretary Nicholas Kent said the withdrawals relate to the Trump administration’s higher standards. But at least one accrediting group disputes that.</p> <div class="field field--name-field-authors field--type-entity-reference field--label-inline clearfix"> <div class="field__label">Byline(s)</div> <div class="field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/author/jessica-blake" hreflang="en">Jessica Blake</a></div> </div> </div>
- PaperEdArXiv (OSF Preprints)20 Jul 2026
Beyond Paper Mills and Product Doctorates: Regulated Doctoral Economies, Knowledge Continuity and Higher Education Policy Across Geopolitical Fragile Frontiers: A Comparative Policy Analysis of China, India and Europe
Savio Vogt
The global doctoral economy is transforming due to geopolitical competition and technological change, including AI. This paper introduces 'Regulated Doctoral Economies' within a broader policy framework, arguing that doctoral systems should balance scholarly originality, supervisory capacity, and industrial relevance rather than just maximizing publications or innovation. Comparative analysis of China, India, and Europe (2024–2026) shows that resilient doctoral systems maintain equilibrium through institutional constraint, not output acceleration.
Original abstract
The global doctoral economy is undergoing profound structural transformation driven by geopolitical competition, technological change, artificial intelligence, industrial policy and strategic innovation (OECD, 2025; UNESCO, 2021). Doctoral education increasingly functions at the intersection of national innovation, scientific capability, technological sovereignty and economic resilience rather than solely as a mechanism of academic credential formation. Contemporary reforms consequently oscillate between two competing institutional logics: publication-driven academic productivity and innovation-oriented industrial relevance. Whilst both respond to legitimate policy pressures, neither adequately addresses the long-term problem of preserving knowledge continuity, methodological integrity and institutional resilience under conditions of geopolitical uncertainty. This paper argues that doctoral policy has become constrained by a false binary between publication accumulation and innovation acceleration. Rather than interpreting doctoral education as either a publication economy or an innovation economy, it introduces the concept of Regulated Doctoral Economies, developed within the broader Regulated Accumulation Policy (RAP) framework. Doctoral systems are conceptualised as dynamic knowledge ecosystems whose resilience depends upon regulating expansion through institutional constraint rather than publication metrics or commercial outputs alone. Drawing upon comparative policy developments across China, India and Europe (2024–2026), the study integrates higher education governance, innovation systems, research integrity, comparative policy analysis, Fisherian variance and volatility assessment to examine the institutional conditions under which doctoral systems preserve equilibrium whilst avoiding both publication inflation and innovation concentration. The analysis further explores the risks of policy imitation across South Asia, arguing that resilient doctoral systems emerge not through maximising publications or products independently, but through maintaining a dynamic balance between scholarly originality, supervisory capacity, methodological rigour, industrial relevance and long-term knowledge continuity. The paper concludes by proposing the Regulated Doctoral Framework as a comparative policy architecture for strengthening doctoral resilience across increasingly geopolitically fragile frontiers, positioning doctoral education as a critical component of scientific sovereignty, institutional stability and long-term civilisational knowledge continuity.
- PaperETS Research Report Series30 Dec 2025
Graduate Admissions After Affirmative Action: Results From the ETS/NAGAP 2024 Admissions Survey
Reginald Gooch, Sara Haviland
A survey of graduate admissions officers in 2024 reveals expected impacts of the U.S. Supreme Court's ban on race-based affirmative action, particularly on holistic admissions practices aimed at diversity. The findings indicate uncertainty and concern about maintaining diversity in graduate programs.
Original abstract
On the tail of changes to testing policies and other graduate admissions practices through the COVID-19 era, 2023 saw a further major change in the admissions landscape through the U.S. Supreme Court’s striking down of race-based affirmative action in admissions processes through the Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) cases. The ETS Research Institute and NAGAP, the Association for Graduate Enrollment Management, partnered on research to understand how this ruling is affecting interest holders and, in particular, how it has affected practices of holistic admissions, which have often been defined with respect to the explicit goal of promoting diversity (see, e.g., Glazer et al., 2014). This research note focuses on the viewpoints of graduate admissions officers and department leaders surveyed in 2024 on the effects they expected to see from the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on affirmative action in admissions processes and on the reactions that they were seeing at their own institutions. Suggested citation: Gooch, R., & Haviland, S. (2025). Graduate admissions after affirmative action: Results from the 2024 ETS/NAGAP Survey (Research Notes). ETS. https://doi.org/10.64634/5s9fnm23