ABA Accreditation Faces U.S. Education Department Scrutiny

U.S. Department of Education staff have recommended that the American Bar Association’s accrediting council lose its federal recognition. Department staff said the accreditor has not met over two dozen criteria. The council defended its record through a spokesperson. This recommendation adds to a long-running political campaign the Trump administration has waged against the ABA.

Appeals Filed in High-Profile Cases

On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Education appealed a federal court ruling against its regulations limiting public service loan forgiveness. The rule, released last fall, barred employees at organizations deemed to have a substantial illegal purpose. Opponents sued, arguing the Trump administration had weaponized the forgiveness program.

Student editors at the University of Alabama also appealed a decision. A federal judge declined to order the institution to reinstate two magazines it shuttered. University leaders said the magazines, one for women students and another for Black students, posed a risk given the administration's campaign against diversity initiatives. The students argued the canceled funding violated their First Amendment rights.

Five highly selective colleges got approval to appeal the class action status of an antitrust lawsuit alleging tuition price-fixing. The colleges said they could face legal liabilities totaling at least $1.7 billion if the case proceeds as a class action. You can track ongoing legal and regulatory challenges in our fixtures section.

AI Policies Debated on Campuses

A Massachusetts Institute of Technology committee said the university must revamp governance to allow rapid curriculum changes responding to artificial intelligence. The report found AI can provide reasonable responses to almost any written assignment at the undergraduate level. It recommended more in-class writing and instructor check-ins.

The Florida Department of Education plans to consider a rule in September requiring state public colleges to adopt AI policies. The goal would be to provide for the use and limitations of AI tools to ensure educational quality and a safe learning environment. For more on institutional policies and performance, see our stats page.

At the University of Chicago, a new departmental policy will ban both faculty and students in social sciences core classes from using AI, according to the student paper Chicago Maroon. A division memo said there was a strong consensus that the sequences are best understood as a pedagogical setting without AI.

Leadership Transition at Broward College

Broward College is set to pay former President Torey Alston $430,000 through a mutual separation agreement. Just two weeks prior, the college’s board had planned to vote on firing Alston without cause, which would have left him without severance. Alston won a court order blocking the vote until mediation occurred. Rabia Azhar, the college's chief operating officer, was named acting president of the Florida public institution.