Category: Featured

  • Education providers pivot to TNE in price-sensitive Pakistan

    Education providers pivot to TNE in price-sensitive Pakistan

    Speaking at The PIE Live Europe 2025, Stuart Smith, CEO of pathway provider NCUK, said Pakistan’s position as a growing yet price-sensitive market opens exciting opportunities for students to earn their qualifications before transitioning to a high-quality university in the UK or elsewhere. 

    “Financially, one of the biggest barriers for Pakistani students has been the cost of studying abroad. The pathway model helps address this by offering significant cost savings, allowing students to progress to high-quality universities,” Smith told delegates at the London conference.

    “One of the big advantages of our model is that students can come in on an NCUK qualification, spend one or two years at home making really important cost savings, and academically prepare for studying abroad, all in a comfortable environment.”

    According to Smith, the rise in interest in international qualifications among Pakistani students also means easier visa approvals for them. 

    Visa refusals and delays have forced many Pakistani students to miss their January intake at UK universities, with some even withdrawing their applications, as reported by The PIE News last year. 

    “For students studying in-country pathway programs, we’ve seen fewer visa refusals because they are better prepared for the visa process and qualify better for visa interviews,” Smith added. 

    Last year, Pakistan’s Higher Education Commission revised its TNE policy to provide greater clarity on requirements, operational models, and introduce guidelines for establishing offshore campuses of Pakistani higher education institutions. 

    The update also emphasised quality assurance and regulatory assessments. 

    “Instead of targeting a small number of students at a high price point, a more sustainable approach is to offer programs at a lower price to a larger student base,” stated Smith. 

    “That being said, there is a market for institutions at all price points. The key is to find the right strategy that balances accessibility with quality.”

    The HEC has previously cautioned students and parents in Pakistan about some of the violations made by Pakistani institutions in their TNE programmes. 

    Moreover, the HEC warned recognised domestic HEIs offering foreign qualifications in Pakistan to comply with the government’s TNE policy, stating that any violations would result in non-recognition of the student’s degree.

    According to Vanessa Potter, director of communications and external relations at the University of Essex, while enrolling large numbers of Pakistani students in TNE programmes remains challenging, the university has shifted its focus. It now puts more into collaborating with its Pakistani alumni, supporting research at local universities, and assisting academic staff in the country.

    “One area we’ve significantly expanded is PhD support for academic staff. We offer our partners substantial discounts on PhD programs, as we believe in supporting both the academy and our institutional collaborators,” stated Potter. 

    “Many universities we work with have one or two staff members engaged in these programs, either full-time or part-time under co-supervision arrangements with Pakistani universities.”

    Just last year, the University of Essex partnered with Beaconhouse International College to offer a variety of business, law, and technology courses to students in major Pakistani cities, including Islamabad, Faisalabad, and Lahore.

    Over the years, Pakistan’s investment in research and development has remained notably low, with expenditure dropping from 0.17% of GDP in 2019 to 0.16% in 2021. 

    This limited funding presents challenges for Pakistani universities in securing high global research rankings, keeping the country’s R & D investment well below international standards.

    Such challenges provide an opportunity for research collaboration for institutions like the University of Essex. 

    “There are pockets of excellent research in Pakistan, though they don’t always reflect in global rankings,” stated Potter. 

    “There is funding available – academic exchanges have already been supported, and the British Council in Pakistan has provided funding for specific initiatives. We are also working with them on scholarships in collaboration, while also receiving support from the British High Commission in Pakistan.”

    According to Potter, the university is also working with the HEC to support laboratory staff in universities.

    “It’s a specialised project, and while we are still looking to pay for it, we are committed to enhancing the development of lab staff in science departments in Pakistani universities.” 

    In recent years, Pakistan has emerged as a major TNE market, especially for the UK. 

    According to the revised TNE policy, HEIs with a strong reputation and ranked within the top 700 in the QS or THE world university rankings, or those classified as Fachhochschule, will be eligible to offer their degree programs in Pakistan.

    Some institutions make the mistake of treating local Pakistani-origin agents differently from international aggregators. This is a clear discrimination
    Atif Khan, University of Hertfordshire

    With the launch of its new initiative, ‘Udaan Pakistan,’ aimed at revitalising the country’s economy, Atif Khan, country director at the University of Hertfordshire, believes that Pakistan has a strategic vision for economic growth over the next five to 10 years. 

    This, in turn, could drive a rising demand for international qualifications among students, he said. 

    “Any universities keen to come to Pakistan – this is the time. Demand will not finish, it will grow,” stated Khan. 

    “Currently, Pakistan has 55 recognised TNE programs, with over 15,000 students engaged. Of these, around 12,000 are involved in UK-affiliated programs, meaning nearly 80% of TNE students in Pakistan are already planning to transition to the UK for their postgraduate studies.”

    On the recruitment front, Khan anticipates a rise in study visas from Pakistan to major international study destinations, noting that the UK issued 35,000 student visas by 2024, an increase of 13% from the previous year.

    But he highlighted how some of the practices adopted by UK universities in the country are discriminatory in nature and need to be fixed.

    “When it comes to selecting recruitment agents, universities need a sustained strategy. They must work with the right agents, ensuring strong compliance and regular training sessions. The market is evolving rapidly,” stated Khan. 

    “Some institutions make the mistake of treating local Pakistani-origin agents differently from international aggregators. This is a clear discrimination. If universities continue down this path, they risk attracting lower-quality students.”

    Furthermore, Potter emphasised that while Pakistan’s economic challenges may prevent an exponential rise in student numbers, universities that offer strong career support and employability prospects could continue to attract Pakistani students.

    “I think being able to articulate clearly how you can support students with jobs, and how having a degree from a particular type of university subject might help that career long term, does help students understand the welcoming environment,” she said.

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  • Will GenAI narrow or widen the digital divide in higher education?

    Will GenAI narrow or widen the digital divide in higher education?

    by Lei Fang and Xue Zhou

    This blog is based on our recent publication: Zhou, X, Fang, L, & Rajaram, K (2025) ‘Exploring the digital divide among students of diverse demographic backgrounds: a survey of UK undergraduates’ Journal of Applied Learning and Teaching, 8(1).

    Introduction – the widening digital divide

    Our recent study (Zhou et al, 2025) surveyed 595 undergraduate students across the UK to examine the evolving digital divide across all forms of digital technologies. Although higher education is expected to narrow this divide and build students’ digital confidence, our findings revealed the opposite. We found that the gap in digital confidence and skills between widening participation (WP) and non-WP students widened progressively throughout the undergraduate journey. While students reported peak confidence in Year 2, this was followed by a notable decline in Year 3, when the digital divide became most pronounced. This drop coincides with a critical period when students begin applying their digital skills in real-world contexts, such as job applications and final-year projects.

    Based on our study (Zhou et al, 2025), while universities offer a wide range of support such as laptop loans, free access to remote systems, extracurricular digital skills training, and targeted funding to WP students, WP students often do not make use of these resources. The core issue lies not in the absence of support, but in its uptake. WP students are often excluded from the peer networks and digital communities where emerging technologies are introduced, shared, and discussed. From a Connectivist perspective (Siemens, 2005), this lack of connection to digital, social, and institutional networks limits their awareness, confidence, and ability to engage meaningfully with available digital tools.

    Building on these findings, this blog asks a timely question: as Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) becomes embedded in higher education, will it help bridge this divide or deepen it further?

    GenAI may widen the digital divide — without proper strategies

    While the digital divide in higher education is already well-documented in relation to general technologies, the emergence of GenAI introduces new risks that may further widen this gap (Cachat-Rosset & Klarsfeld, 2023). This matters because students who are GenAI-literate often experience better academic performance (Sun & Zhou, 2024), making the divide not just about access but also about academic outcomes.

    Unlike traditional digital tools, GenAI often demands more advanced infrastructure — including powerful devices, high-speed internet, and in many cases, paid subscriptions to unlock full functionality. WP students, who already face barriers to accessing basic digital infrastructure, are likely to be disproportionately excluded. This divide is not only student-level but also institutional. A few well-funded universities are able to subscribe to GenAI platforms such as ChatGPT, invest in specialised GenAI tools, and secure campus-wide licenses. In contrast, many institutions, particularly those under financial pressure, cannot afford such investments. These disparities risk creating a new cross-sector digital divide, where students’ access to emerging technologies depends not only on their background, but also on the resources of the university they attend.

    In addition, the adoption of GenAI currently occurs primarily through informal channels via peers, online communities, or individual experimentation rather than structured teaching (Shailendra et al, 2024). WP students, who may lack access to these digital and social learning networks (Krstić et al, 2021), are therefore less likely to become aware of new GenAI tools, let alone develop the confidence and skills to use them effectively. Even when they do engage with GenAI, students may experience uncertainty, confusion, or fear about using it appropriately especially in the absence of clear guidance around academic integrity, ethical use, or institutional policy. This ambiguity can lead to increased anxiety and stress, contributing to wider concerns around mental health in GenAI learning environments.

    Another concern is the risk of impersonal learning environments (Berei & Pusztai, 2022). When GenAI are implemented without inclusive design, the experience can feel detached and isolating, particularly for WP students, who often already feel marginalised. While GenAI tools may streamline administrative and learning processes, they can also weaken the sense of connection and belonging that is essential for student engagement and success.

    GenAI can narrow the divide — with the right strategies

    Although WP students are often excluded from digital networks, which Connectivism highlights as essential for learning (Goldie, 2016), GenAI, if used thoughtfully, can help reconnect them by offering personalised support, reducing geographic barriers, and expanding access to educational resources.

    To achieve this, we propose five key strategies:

    • Invest in infrastructure and access: Universities must ensure that all students have the tools to participate in the AI-enabled classroom including access to devices, core software, and free versions of widely used GenAI platforms. While there is a growing variety of GenAI tools on the market, institutions facing financial pressures must prioritise tools that are both widely used and demonstrably effective. The goal is not to adopt everything, but to ensure that all students have equitable access to the essentials.
    • Rethink training with inclusion in mind: GenAI literacy training must go beyond traditional models. It should reflect Equality, Diversity and Inclusion principles recognising the different starting points students bring and offering flexible, practical formats. Micro-credentials on platforms like LinkedIn Learning or university-branded short courses can provide just-in-time, accessible learning opportunities. These resources are available anytime and from anywhere, enabling students who were previously excluded such as those in rural or under-resourced areas to access learning on their own terms.
    • Build digital communities and peer networks: Social connection is a key enabler of learning (Siemens, 2005). Institutions should foster GenAI learning communities where students can exchange ideas, offer peer support, and normalise experimentation. Mental readiness is just as important as technical skill and being part of a supportive network can reduce anxiety and stigma around GenAI use.
    • Design inclusive GenAI policies and ensure ongoing evaluation: Institutions must establish clear, inclusive policies around GenAI use that balance innovation with ethics (Schofield & Zhang, 2024). These policies should be communicated transparently and reviewed regularly, informed by diverse student feedback and ongoing evaluation of impact.
    • Adopt a human-centred approach to GenAI integration: Following UNESCO’s human-centred approach to AI in education (UNESCO, 2024; 2025), GenAI should be used to enhance, not replace the human elements of teaching and learning. While GenAI can support personalisation and reduce administrative burdens, the presence of academic and pastoral staff remains essential. By freeing staff from routine tasks, GenAI can enable them to focus more fully on this high-impact, relational work, such as mentoring, guidance, and personalised support that WP students often benefit from most.

    Conclusion

    Generative AI alone will not determine the future of equity in higher education, our actions will. Without intentional, inclusive strategies, GenAI risks amplifying existing digital inequalities, further disadvantaging WP students. However, by proactively addressing access barriers, delivering inclusive and flexible training, building supportive digital communities, embedding ethical policies, and preserving meaningful human interaction, GenAI can become a powerful tool for inclusion. The digital divide doesn’t close itself; institutions must embed equity into every stage of GenAI adoption. The time to act is not once systems are already in place, it is now.

    Dr Lei Fang is a Senior Lecturer in Digital Transformation at Queen Mary University of London. Her research interests include AI literacy, digital technology adoption, the application of AI in higher education, and risk management. [email protected]

    Professor Xue Zhou is a Professor in AI in Business Education at the University of Leicester. Her research interests fall in the areas of digital literacy, digital technology adoption, cross-cultural adjustment and online professionalism. [email protected]

    Author: SRHE News Blog

    An international learned society, concerned with supporting research and researchers into Higher Education

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  • The military footprint of the United States

    The military footprint of the United States

    The United States is keen to withdraw troops from Afghanistan and end its longest war ever, but the number of American soldiers in the South Asian country is dwarfed by many thousands stationed elsewhere across the globe.

    The 200,000 U.S. troops overseas are testimony to Washington’s persistent international commitment despite deep-seated isolationist impulses reflected in President Donald Trump’s “America First” campaign.

    The costly U.S. military footprint is a legacy of its status as Western leader that America inherited, at times reluctantly, after the two world wars in the last century.

    If Washington ever significantly reduced its network of military bases around the world, it would reflect a major turning point in history and possibly a destabilizing shift in the balance of power.

    The United States, Afghanistan and Taliban insurgents hit a roadblock recently as they tried to implement a face-saving pact leading to the partial withdrawal of American troops in the Asian nation after nearly two decades of hostilities.

    U.S. troops stationed around the world

    The anticipated pullout of about 3,400 of the remaining 12,000 U.S. troops was threatened by continuing violence, a squabble over a prisoner swap and the spread of COVID-19.

    But the American troops in Afghanistan are just the tip of an iceberg. Some 200,000 U.S. troops are stationed in overseas bases across Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Latin America.

    Current lists of U.S. troops overseas by the Defense Manpower Data Center include: 38,000 in Japan, 34,000 in Germany, 24,000 in South Korea, 12,000 in Afghanistan, 12,000 in Italy, 8,000 in Britain, 6,000 in Kuwait, 5,000 in Bahrain, 5,000 in Iraq and 3,000 in Spain.

    Smaller deployments are in Qatar, Turkey, Djibouti, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Australia, Belgium, Cuba, Romania and El Salvador.

    The overseas deployments are a legacy of global military engagement dating back to the first years of the U.S. republic in the early 19th century.

    A fight against pirates

    U.S. founding fathers were no strangers to warfare. With significant French support, they defeated Britain to win control of the 13 original colonies, but they were soon challenged by pirates.

    “We can trace the roots of overseas conflict back to the skirmishes with the Barbary Pirates in the Jefferson years,” Michael O’Hanlon, a military historian at the Brookings Institution, said in an interview.

    In 1801, Thomas Jefferson, the third U.S. president, sent warships to free U.S. merchant seamen held hostage by North African Barbary Coast pirates.

    Between 1812 and 1814, U.S. troops and warships again sent British forces packing, although the White House was burned.

    “But those skirmishes were not really indicative of any major overseas ambition – just yet,” said O’Hanlon.

    The United States becomes a world leader.

    The next military challenge with standing armies was the U.S. Civil War in the 1860s. Then, a strongly isolationist American public was dragged into two world wars in the 20th century, first in 1917 when the German navy began targeting neutral ships, and then in 1941 when the Japanese bombed the American fleet in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

    After the world wars, U.S. isolationists sought to keep America out of foreign conflicts and shrink the size of its standing army. “That stopped,” said O’Hanlon, “with the descent of the Iron Curtain in Europe, the communist takeover in China, the Soviet testing of a nuclear bomb and of course the North Korean attack on South Korea, all in the late 1940s or 1950s.”

    Soon the United States joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and signed military treaties with Japan, the Philippines, Germany and South Korea, leaving U.S. troops in some cases as a “trip wire” to warn off aggressors that an attack on U.S. or NATO bases would mean war.

    The latest expansion of U.S. military forces overseas is the Pentagon’s Africa Command. It is working with French troops to patrol the Sahara region, where Islamist militants have launched attacks in several former French colonies including Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Algeria and Tunisia.

    But a proposal to reduce the U.S. military’s involvement in Africa has stoked fears that militants could end up destabilizing or controlling large parts of the sub-Saharan Sahel.

    The spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan, Col. Sonny Leggett, recently tweeted that despite the risks of the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States will pursue its plan to withdraw troops until 8,600 are left.

    Under the deal signed at the end of February, the U.S. is to cut its forces in Afghanistan to 8,600 service members within 135 days of the deal, and the international coalition backing the United States is to draw down by a commensurate amount, the Hill newspaper reported last month.

     

    Three questions to consider:

    1. Who were the Barbary pirates?

    2. Why did the United States enter World War One and World War Two?

    3. Why did the United States not revert to form and retreat into an isolationist shell after World War Two?

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  • Teacher with PTSD entitled to accommodation under ADA, 2nd Circuit says

    Teacher with PTSD entitled to accommodation under ADA, 2nd Circuit says

    This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback.

    Dive Brief:

    • A high school math teacher with post-traumatic stress disorder was entitled to a 15-minute break as a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act even if she didn’t need one to perform her job’s essential functions, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held March 25 in Tudor v. Whitehall Central School District.
    • The high school math teacher in New York sued her school district under the ADA for failing to accommodate her PTSD, according to court documents. She claimed the school district refused to guarantee her a 15-minute break every afternoon during the 2019-2020 school year. She said she used the breaks to compose herself away from the workplace, which tended to trigger her symptoms.
    • The teacher acknowledged that even without the breaks, she could perform her job’s essential functions, albeit “under great duress and harm.” On that basis, the district court found she had no failure-to-accommodate claim and granted summary judgment against her. The 2nd Circuit vacated the ruling and sent the case back for reconsideration.

    Dive Insight:

    Prohibited discrimination under the ADA includes, absent undue hardship to the employer, “not making reasonable accommodations to the known physical or mental limitations of an otherwise qualified individual with a disability,” the 2nd Circuit explained, quoting the statute.

    In turn, the ADA defines a “qualified individual” as “an individual who, with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions” of their job, the appeals court pointed out.

    The district court, relying on this wording, incorrectly inferred that an employee who can perform the job’s essential functions without an accommodation does not, as a matter of law, have a claim for failure to accommodate, the panel said.

    But “a straightforward reading of the ADA confirms that an employee may qualify for a reasonable accommodation even if she can perform the essential functions of her job” without an accommodation, the 2nd Circuit emphasized.

    In other words, “accommodations that are not strictly necessary for an employee’s performance of essential functions may still be reasonable and therefore required by the ADA,” the court held.

    The 2nd Circuit, which covers Connecticut, New York and Vermont, noted that most of the other federal circuit courts of appeal have made similar rulings.

    Relevant to the teacher’s case, the ADA defines reasonable accommodation to include job restructuring or modifying an employee’s schedule, the 2nd Circuit said. A modified schedule may involve adjusting arrival or departure times or providing periodic breaks, according to a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission guidance.

    For instance, the EEOC announced last week that a construction supply company agreed to pay $150,000 to settle allegations it failed to provide a diabetic worker with requested snack breaks throughout the day to regulate his blood sugar.

    Reasonable accommodations also include allowing an employee to use accrued paid leave and providing unpaid leave, the EEOC guidance states.

    However, the “reasonableness” of a requested accommodation is a fact-specific question, the 2nd Circuit explained.

    On remand, the school district might demonstrate that the teacher’s request for a break while assigned to afternoon study hall was unreasonable and imposed an undue hardship, the court pointed out.

    At the same time, the teacher’s long history of receiving her requested accommodation and the school district’s evolving policies indicated that her request may have been reasonable, notwithstanding that she performed her essential functions without it, the 2nd Circuit noted.

    Court documents reflected that in 2008, the teacher sought and received permission to take one 15-minute break during each of her morning and afternoon “prep periods,” when she wasn’t responsible for overseeing students.

    In 2016, the school district indicated she needed to submit additional documentation to support her request. Rather than doing so, the teacher took paid sick leave and then leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act, according to court records.

    When she returned from FMLA leave in 2017, and throughout the 2018-2019 school year, she was allowed to take a morning and afternoon break when a school librarian could watch the students.

    At issue here were the afternoon breaks the following year that she wasn’t guaranteed (but took anyway) when the librarian or another employee wasn’t to cover for her, court records reflected.

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  • As EPA pulls back, advocates warn it’s schoolchildren who face the steepest risks

    As EPA pulls back, advocates warn it’s schoolchildren who face the steepest risks

    This story was produced by Floodlight and republished with permission. 

    President Donald Trump and his administration have called it the “Great American Comeback.” But environmental advocates say the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s reversing course on enforcing air and water pollution laws is more of a throwback — one that will exacerbate health risks for children who live and study in the shadows of petrochemical facilities. 

    The American Lung Association has found that children face special risks from air pollution because their airways are smaller and still developing and because they breathe more rapidly and inhale more air relative to their size than do adults.

    Environmental lawyers say Trump and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin’s slashing of federal protections against toxic emissions could lead to increased exposure to dangerous pollutants for kids living in fenceline communities.

    Community advocates like Kaitlyn Joshua, who was born and raised in the southeast corridor of Louisiana dubbed “Cancer Alley,” say they are horrified about what EPA’s deregulation push will mean for the future generation.  

    “That is not an exaggeration; we feel like we are suffocating without the cover and the oversight of the EPA,” Joshua said. “Without that, what can we really do? How can we really save ourselves? How can we really save our communities?” 

    Kaitlyn Joshua is a native of the southeast corridor of Louisiana dubbed “Cancer Alley,” and has spent the last few years leading the fight against a hydrogen and ammonia facility being built within 2,000 feet of an elementary school in Ascension Parish. Joshua says she is ‘horrified’ about the recent deregulation measures the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently announced for the petrochemical industry.
    Credit: Claire Bangser/Floodlight

    Ashley Gaignard knows how hard it is to keep kids safe when pollution is all around. 

    When Gaignard’s son was in elementary school, a doctor restricted him from daily recess, saying the emissions from an ammonia facility located within 2 miles of his playground could be exacerbating a pre-existing lung condition, triggering his severe asthma attacks. 

    “I had asthma as a kid growing up, and my grandfather had asthma, so I just figured it was hereditary; he was going to suffer with asthma,” said Gaignard, who was born and raised in Louisiana’s Ascension Parish, also located within Cancer Alley. She’s now chief executive officer of the community advocacy group she created, Rural Roots Louisiana. 

    “I just never knew until the doctor said, ‘Okay, we have to think about what he is breathing, and what’s causing him to flare up the minute he’s outside’,” she said. 

    Gaignard said the further her son got away from that school, as he moved through the parish’s educational system, the less severe his attacks were. She said he’s now an adult living in Fresno, California — and no longer suffers from asthma.

    Related: How colleges can become ‘living labs’ for fighting climate change

    Zeldin sent shockwaves throughout the environmental justice sector on March 12 when he announced that the EPA was rolling back many of the federal regulations that were put in place under the administration of Joe Biden — many built around environmental justice and mitigating climate change. 

    Those included strengthening the Clean Air Act by implementing more stringent controls on toxic air emissions and increased air quality monitoring in communities near industrial facilities. The new standards were expected to reduce 6,000 tons of air toxins annually and reduce the emissions related to cancer risks in these communities in Texas, Louisiana, Delaware, New Jersey, the Ohio River Valley and elsewhere. 

    A new memo from the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, which serves as the law enforcement arm of the EPA — circulated the same day as Zeldin’s announcement — states that environmental justice considerations would no longer factor into the federal agency’s oversight of facilities in Black and brown communities. 

    Zeldin said the goal was “driving a dagger straight into the heart of the climate change religion.”

    Port Allen Middle School sits in the shadow of the Placid petrochemical refinery in West Baton Rouge Parish, La. A 2016 report found nearly one in 10 children in the U.S. attends one of the 12,000 schools located within 1 mile of a chemical facility, which for environmental advocates highlights the danger of the recently announced rollbacks of air and water pollution regulations by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Credit: Terry L. Jones / Floodlight

    That means the EPA will no longer target, investigate or address noncompliance issues at facilities emitting cancer-causing chemicals such as benzene, ethylene oxide and formaldehyde in the places already overburdened with hazardous pollution. 

    “While enforcement and compliance assurance can continue to focus on areas with the highest levels of (hazardous air pollutants) affecting human health,” the memo reads, “…to ensure consistency with the President’s Executive Orders, they will no longer focus exclusively on communities selected by the regions as being ‘already highly burdened with pollution impacts.’”

    The agency also will not implement any enforcement and compliance actions that could shut down energy production or power generation “absent an imminent and substantial threat to human health.” 

    In is prepared video statement about the EPA’s deregulation measures, Zeldin said, “The agency is committed to fulfilling President Trump’s promise to unleash American energy, lower cost of living for Americans, revitalize the American auto industry, restore the rule of law, and give power back to states to make their own decisions. ”

    Related: How Trump is disrupting efforts by schools and colleges to combat climate change

    Top officials with the nonprofit environmental advocacy group Earthjustice recently said there is no way for the Trump administration to reconcile what it’s calling “the greatest day of deregulation” in EPA’s history with protecting public health. 

    Patrice Simms, vice president of litigation for healthy communities for Earthjustice, went a step further pointing out during a press briefing that the reason EPA exists is to protect the public from toxic air pollution. 

    “The law demands that EPA control these pollutants, and demands that EPA protect families and communities,” Simms said. “And these impacts on these communities most heavily land on the shoulders of children. Children are more susceptible to the harms from pollutants, and these pollutants are often happening right in the backyards of our schools, of our neighborhoods and our playgrounds.”

    A 2016 report published by the Center for Effective Government found that nearly one in 10 children in the country attends one of the 12,000 schools located within 1 mile of a chemical facility. These children are disproportionately children of color living in low-income areas, the report found. 

    For the past several years, Joshua has been leading the opposition to a hydrogen and ammonia facility being built within 2,000 feet of an elementary school in Ascension Parish. Air Products plans to start commercial operation in 2028 where an estimated 600,000 metric tons of hydrogen will be produced annually from methane gas.

    The $7 billion project has been touted as a clean energy solution because the company intends to use technology to collect its carbon dioxide emissions, and then transport them through pipelines to be stored under a recreational lake 37 miles away. 

    Carbon capture technology has been controversial, with skeptics highlighting the possibilities for earthquakes, groundwater contamination and CO2 leaking back into the atmosphere through abandoned and unplugged oil and gas wells or pipeline breaches. Pipeline ruptures in the past have also led to communities having to evacuate their homes. 

    Related: When a hurricane washes away a region’s child care system

    Joshua said these communities need more federal regulation and oversight — not less.

    “We had a community meeting … for our Ascension Parish residents, and the sentiment and the theme on that call was very much like ‘Kaitlyn, there is nothing we can do.’ Like, we just had to literally lie down and take this,” Joshua said. “We had to kind of challenge people and put them in the space, in time, of a civil rights movement. We have to get creative about how we’re going to organize around it and be our own version of EPA.”

    This screenshot from CLEAR Collaborative’s Petroleum Pollution Map models health risks from hazardous air pollution from petrochemical facilities around West Baton Rouge Parish near Port Allen Middle School. The map uses U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data analyzed by the Environmental Defense Fund. Environmental advocates have sounded the alarm on the dangers of the EPA’s rollback of air and water regulations for children in fenceline communities. Credit: Provided by The Environmental Defense Fund

    Sarah Vogel, senior vice president of health communities with the Environmental Defense Fund, said the move toward deregulation comes as the U.S. Department of Justice announced on March 7 that it was dropping the federal lawsuit the Biden administration lodged against Denka’s Performance Elastomer plant in Louisiana. That plant had been accused of worsening cancer risks for the residents in the surrounding majority-Black community. 

    The DOJ said its decision was tied to Trump’s moves to dismantle all federal programs tied to diversity, equity and inclusion.

    “What they’re trying to do is just completely deregulate everything for oil and gas and petrochemical facilities, just absolutely take the lid off,” Vogel said. “We have long known that children are uniquely susceptible to air pollution and toxic chemicals. Like they’re huge, huge impacts. It’s why what they are doing is so devastating and cruel in my mind.”

    Floodlight, which produced this story, is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates the powers stalling climate action.

    The Hechinger Report provides in-depth, fact-based, unbiased reporting on education that is free to all readers. But that doesn’t mean it’s free to produce. Our work keeps educators and the public informed about pressing issues at schools and on campuses throughout the country. We tell the whole story, even when the details are inconvenient. Help us keep doing that.

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  • Adolescence and Boys will be Boys – time for concrete action

    Adolescence and Boys will be Boys – time for concrete action

    Having been involved in the world of men and boys’ issues (chairing charities, running campaigns, trying to get policy change) for a long time, the last few weeks have been potentially game-changing. We saw the Centre for Social Justice report Lost Boys, Netflix’s Adolescence and the Boys will be boys policy report from Nick Hillman and me for this Institute.

    I felt that the Netflix programme raised serious issues facing some, not all, of our teenage boys, albeit it felt a little tick boxy in places (Tate – tick, Incels – tick, dad not around all the time – tick). I felt a little uneasy about how the dad was portrayed (leaving home at 6am and coming home at 8pm as if it was his fault and it was all his choice). Being the eldest son of a van driver, I am somewhat sensitive to negative portrayals of working-class dads doing the best they can to keep the lights on for their families.

    The report Nick and I wrote highlighted the continuing gender gap between male and female teenagers going into higher education. We estimate it is half a million over a decade with no sign of any change on the horizon, given the main predictor is an attainment gap in school. Boys remain behind girls at every level. Therefore, they are not getting the grades and as a consequence, are not taking enough of the exams to qualify.

    The main commonalities between both are that these issues have been hidden in plain sight. The issues raised by Adolescence about disengaged boys, negative influencers and their impact have been known for a long time. The same is true of the gender attainment gap. It shouldn’t, like last years’ Post Office Scandal drama, take TV to bring these to the fore.

    The main difference between our report and the ensuing debate about Adolescence is what comes next.

    We offered a range of policy solutions from schools taking up boy-positive principles to more male teachers and role models. Plus, there should be an increased focus on gender disparities in Access and Participation Plans, a Minister for Men and Boys and re-opening the Select Committee inquiry on boys’ attainment. Many more as well.

    What has been missing with regard to Adolescence at a national political and education level is the lack of commitment for concrete action. More male teachers and role models, came the welcome call from Sir Gareth Southgate. But there was no commitment from anyone to act. The Prime Minister said he was concerned and would look at it, but he made no pledge on action or what that would look like. There was also no huge push on tackling the problems boys have, only talking about the problems boys cause. But of course, tackling the problems boys have reduces the problems some boys cause – to themselves and others, including women and girls.

    My fear is that the media and political agenda will move on as it always does and nothing will change. The higher education attendance gap will remain, 150 plus teenage boys will die by suicide every year, well over 6,000 boys will continue to be excluded from school and 250,000 young men will still be unemployed.

    The higher education sector needs more boys to do well, so more go to higher education, and they do better when they are there. Our economy and society depend on it, too. The lesson from both Adolescence and Boys will be boys is that a continual lack of concrete action will no longer do.

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  • Innovation, Collaboration During Challenging Times

    Innovation, Collaboration During Challenging Times

    I just returned from the UPCEA annual conference held in Denver. A record attendance of some 1,300 administrators, faculty and staff from member institutions gathered to share policies, practices, innovations and knowledge in advancing the mission of higher education in 2025. It was a thriving and exciting environment of energy and enthusiasm in seeking solutions to challenges that confront us today and into the future.

    Recent policy shifts regarding the federal funding of grants provided by the institutes and foundations that support university research were on the minds of most who attended. These topics provided the undercurrent of discussions in many of the sessions. The spirit was one of supporting each other in advancing their initiatives despite the prospect of cuts in federal support. The confluence of the demographic enrollment cliff of college-bound students due to the drop in births during the previous recession of 2007–09 and additional promised cuts in funding from federal and many state sources created an environment for collaboration on solving shared challenges rivaled only by that of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    A number of the sessions addressed innovations with cost savings, efficiencies and effectiveness gains that can be realized by thoughtfully introducing artificial intelligence into supporting many aspects of the higher education mission. The potential savings are significant if AI can take over duties of positions that become vacant or instances where staff are better utilized by shifting their efforts elsewhere.

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    By fall 2025, readily available AI tools will be able to serve in course development, delivery and assessment:

    • Conceive, design, create online (even self-paced) courses
    • Adapt and update class materials with emerging concepts, societal situations and news context
    • Lead and assess class discussions—stimulate deeper thought and engagement
    • Assess course assignments with personalized recommendations to fill in the gaps in knowledge
    • Provide one-on-one counseling on academic matters and referrals for personal challenges
    • Create a summative assessment of course outcomes and initiate revisions for improvement
    • Generate a deep-thinking report for administrators and committees to consider

    By this fall, readily available AI tools will be able to serve in curriculum development, marketing and student onboarding:

    • Survey specified fields for addition or expansion of degree and certificate programs
    • Recommend detailed curriculum for new programs and suggest tuition/fees
    • Create marketing plans after developing a report on demand and competitors in the program area
    • Develop, track, implement and adapt marketing budget
    • Prepare and support student advising to optimize retention and completion
    • Prepare updated and revised plans for spring 2026

    By fall 2025, develop optimal staff allocation and review process:

    • Assess performance evaluations, recommend additional interviews as appropriate
    • Develop, refine and utilize departmental/college priority list to respond to revenue and enrollment trends for the year
    • Match staff skills with desired outcomes
    • Monitor productivity and accomplishments for each employee
    • Make recommendations for further efficiencies, having AI perform some tasks such as accounting and data analysis previously done by humans
    • Be responsive to employee aspirations and areas of greatest interest
    • Review and prepare updated and revised plans for spring 2026

    These tasks and many more can be accomplished by AI tools that can be acquired at modest costs. Of course, they must be carefully reviewed by human administrators to ensure fairness and accuracy are maintained.

    I learned from a number of those attending the UPCEA conference that, in these relatively early stages of AI implementation, many employees harbor fears of AI. Concerns center around human job security. While there are many tasks that AI can more efficiently and effectively perform than humans, most current jobs include aspects that are best performed by humans. So, in most cases, the use of AI will be in a role of augmentation of human work to make it more expedient and save time for other new tasks the human employees can best perform.

    This presents the need for upskilling to enable human staff to make the efficiencies possible by learning to work best with AI. Interestingly, in most cases experts say this will not require computer coding or other such skills. Rather, this will require personnel to understand the capabilities of AI in order to tap these skills to advance the goals of the unit and university. Positions in which humans and AI are coworkers will require excellent communication skills, organizational skills, critical thinking and creative thinking. AI performs well at analytical, synthetical, predictive and creative tasks, among others. It is adept at taking on leadership and managerial roles that recognize the unit and institutional priorities as well as employee preferences and abilities.

    How then can we best prepare our staff for optimizing their working relations with the new AI coworkers? I believe this begins with personal experience with AI tools. We all should become comfortable with conducting basic searches using a variety of chat bots. Learning to compose a proper prompt is the cornerstone of communicating with AI.

    The next step is to use a handful of the readily available deep-research tools to generate a report on a topic that is relevant to the staff member’s work. Compare and contrast those reports for quality, accuracy and the substance of cited material. Perform the research iteratively to improve or refine results. This Medium post offers a good summary of leading deep-research engines and best applications, although it was released in February and may be dated due to the Gemini version 2.5 Pro released on March 26. This new version by Google is topping many of the current ratings charts.

    In sum, we are facing changes of an unprecedented scale with the disruption of long-standing policies, funding sources and a shrinking incoming student pool. Fortunately, these changes are coming at the same time as AI is maturing into a dependable tool that can take on some of the slack that will come from not filling vacancies. However, to meet that need we must begin to provide training to our current and incoming employees to ensure that they can make the most of AI tools we will provide.

    Together, through the collaborative support of UPCEA and other associations, we in higher education will endure these challenges as we did those posed by the COVID pandemic.

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  • Wellesley Surpasses $100K Sticker Price

    Wellesley Surpasses $100K Sticker Price

    Wellesley College in Massachusetts has become the first U.S. institution to top $100,000 per year.

    Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe/Getty Images

    Wellesley College appears to be the first higher ed institution in the nation to hit the $100,000 annual sticker price.

    The cost to attend the all-women’s college this coming fall will be $100,541, as Boston Business Journal first reported. That includes direct costs of $92,440—which covers undergraduate tuition, housing, fees and meals—plus indirect costs, such as books, personal expenses, travel, transportation, and optional health insurance. Wellesley now appears to be the most expensive college in the country.

    Various other universities have approached the six-figure mark for undergraduate tuition and indirect costs in recent years but managed to remain below it. When Inside Higher Ed explored this issue last year, it appeared that Vanderbilt University might be the first to cross the threshold, with estimated costs for undergraduate students in certain programs, such as engineering, hitting almost $98,000. Others at or over the $90,000 line include the University of Chicago, the University of Southern California, Washington University in St. Louis and Tufts University, and a handful of other highly selective, private institutions.

    Wellesley spokesperson Stacey Schmeidel wrote in an email to Inside Higher Ed Tuesday that the college “meets 100% of the calculated need for all students” and is “committed to making a Wellesley education accessible to all.” Additionally, she noted that “loans are eliminated for students with total parent income less than $100,000 and calculated family contribution of less than $28,000. The average indebtedness of our 2023 graduates is $18,500, well below the national average.”

    She added that indirect costs vary by student and “the majority” do not pay sticker price.

    Schmeidel also wrote that more than 50 percent of students decline the optional health insurance, which, at $4,051, is the most expensive item on the list of indirect costs. Of those who do opt in, nearly half receive institutional grants to cover the entire cost, she noted.

    Despite the potential sticker shock, Wellesley’s website plugs an education that is “more affordable than you think.” Wellesley has a financial aid budget of more than $84 million, according to its website.

    That is also the case at many other well-endowed colleges where, regardless of the listed price, most students don’t pay the full amount. Tuition discounting has soared in recent years and remains well over 50 percent across the U.S. A recent study of 325 private nonprofit colleges conducted by the National Association of College and University Business Officers pegged the average tuition discount rate for first-time, full-time students at 56 percent, and 52 percent for all undergraduate students. Both numbers are all-time highs.

    While public concerns about higher education have often focused on college costs, debt and the return on investment, Wellesley and its high-priced peers are outliers in terms of cost. A recent College Board analysis found that in the 2024–25 academic year, the average sticker price was $43,350 for private nonprofit four-year institutions, $30,780 for out-of-state students attending public universities, and $11,610 for in-state students at public universities.

    Bryan Alexander, a senior scholar at Georgetown University who has been writing about college costs nearing the $100,000 mark since 2018, correctly predicted in 2023 that Wellesley would be one of the first institutions to reach six figures by the 2026–27 academic year.

    Asked what he thought about his prediction coming to pass, Alexander responded with multiple questions.

    “Will this pricing make the college more desirable, as a luxury good? Or will it drive away would-be students from sticker shock?” he wrote by email. “How many universities, scared of [the Trump administration], will make such a price hike to raise funds when grants are cut?”

    He also pondered what it might mean for public perception, writing, “Wellesley is a small liberal arts college, but some universities are also playing this pricing game. Will [small liberal arts colleges] become seen as too pricey, or will all of higher ed get tarred with this brush?”

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  • March Brought Another Round of Job and Program Cuts

    March Brought Another Round of Job and Program Cuts

    March brought layoffs, buyouts and the elimination of multiple academic programs as universities sought to plug budget holes wrought by sector challenges and state budget issues.

    While many universities have announced hiring freezes and other moves due to the uncertainty of federal funding under Trump, the cuts below are not directly tied to the administration’s efforts to slash budgets and shrink the government. Instead, they are linked largely to dwindling enrollment or the loss of state funding.

    University of Dayton

    Officials at the private, Catholic research institution in Ohio announced cuts last month that affect 65 employees; 45 faculty members will not have their contracts renewed and 20 staff positions have been eliminated, The Dayton Daily News reported.

    Affected employees will reportedly be offered severance packages.

    Total cuts are projected to save the university $25 million over three years, the newspaper reported. Officials at the university said the moves were “focused on financial sustainability,” noting that while Dayton does not currently have a budget deficit, the change better positions it for the future.

    Wagner College

    The private liberal arts college in New York is looking to phase out as many as 21 programs in an effort to reverse recent enrollment declines, The Staten Island Advance reported.

    The changes reportedly could affect up to 40 full-time faculty members.

    Less popular academic programs—including anthropology, chemistry, English, history, math, modern languages, sociology, philosophy and physics—are among those that may be wound down. Officials told the newspaper that the process will be completed over the next 12 to 18 months.

    Kent State University

    Up to 30 administrative positions and nine majors are being eliminated at the public university in Ohio as part of a phased academic realignment that was approved by the board last month, WKYC reported. Kent State will also shrink the number of academic colleges from 10 to nine.

    The changes are part of a phased plan to be completed in 2028.

    The plans cites two goals: “First to strengthen academic affairs by reorganizing and realigning our academic units so that we are more cost efficient and therefore sustainable, and second, to ensure that we are providing the most in-demand, up-to-date and relevant academic programs and services for our learners,” executive vice president and provost Melody Tankersley said in an announcement last month following approval of the restructuring plan by Kent State’s board.

    Lakeland Community College

    Facing a $2 million budget deficit, the public two-year college in Ohio is laying off 10 faculty members and not replacing 14 professors set to retire, Ideastream Public Media reported.

    Another eight faculty members who will retire next year will also not be replaced.

    Between the cuts and retirements, Lakeland expects to save $2.3 million this year and another $800,000 next year. It will reinvest $225,000 in three faculty positions in manufacturing, welding and electrical engineering as it prioritizes workforce development.

    Lakeland also plans to close an unspecified number of low-enrollment programs.

    St. Norbert College

    The private, Catholic college in Wisconsin announced plans last month to lay off 27 professors and cut more than a dozen programs to address its budget deficit, Wisconsin Public Radio reported.

    Cuts will shave an estimated $5 million off the $12 million budget deficit. Of the 27 affected faculty members, 21 are set to lose their jobs in May, and the remaining six will be let go in 2026.

    Averett University

    Grappling with financial pressures, the small, private institution in Virginia announced plans last month to eliminate 15 jobs as part of cost-cutting measures, The Chatham Star-Tribune reported.

    Additionally, Cardinal News reported this week that Averett listed its equestrian center for sale.

    The university has navigated steep financial issues since last summer, when officials discovered a financial shortfall brought about by unauthorized withdrawals from the endowment by a former employee. While they said there was no evidence of embezzlement or misuse of the funds, the fiscal mismanagement prompted Averett to take a series of ongoing measures to fix its finances.

    Oklahoma State University

    Fallout continues at Oklahoma State, where the university laid off 12 Innovation Foundation employees after a recent audit uncovered financial missteps there, Oklahoma Voice reported.

    Affected staffers will not receive severance but will remain employed through June 1.

    In February, Oklahoma State president Kayse Shrum stepped down abruptly amid a review of improper transfers of legislatively appropriated funds. An audit later found that $41 million in state appropriations “were not properly restricted and in some instances were co-mingled with other funds” in violation of state laws and policies. In one instance, $11.5 million intended for other programs had been directed without board approval to OSU’s Innovation Foundation instead.

    St. Joseph’s University

    Officials offered buyouts to some faculty and staff last month as the private Jesuit university seeks to close a budget deficit following recent mergers, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

    St. Joseph’s absorbed the University of the Sciences in 2022 and added Pennsylvania College of Health Sciences in 2023, which officials told the newspaper left them with a “small deficit.” President Cheryl McConnell did not specify a dollar figure in an interview with the Inquirer.

    She added that there was no specific target number for buyouts, but when asked about potential layoffs, McConnell said it “depends on the nature of voluntary separation plan results.”

    Utah State University

    Voluntary buyouts are on the table and layoffs could be on the horizon at the public university following $17.3 million in budget cuts from the State Legislature, The Cache Valley Daily reported.

    Those cuts were spread across two years, with the university taking a $12.5 million hit this year. However, USU could restore that money through the state’s strategic reinvestment initiative, which allows universities to regain funding if leaders can identify areas for cuts and shift resources toward strategic initiatives favored by the state.

    Weber State University

    Elsewhere in Utah, Weber State is also grappling with budget issues imposed by the state.

    With anticipated budget cuts of $6.7 million due to the same strategic realignment initiative, Weber State is also offering voluntary separation incentives to employees, Deseret News reported. The university also plans to restructure some academic programs, including the College of Education.

    Budget changes in Utah will also affect the other six state institutions, but not all have made their plans public yet.

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  • Cornell Student Who Faced Deportation Leaves the Country

    Cornell Student Who Faced Deportation Leaves the Country

    Momodou Taal, the Cornell University graduate student who said his institution effectively tried to deport him in the fall over his pro-Palestine activism, announced Monday he’s leaving the U.S. of his own accord under threat from the Trump administration.

    “I have lost faith I could walk the streets without being abducted,” Taal wrote on X. He added that “we are facing a government that has no respect for the judiciary or for the rule of the law.”

    On March 15, Taal, his professor and another Cornell Ph.D. student sued President Trump, the Department of Homeland Security and Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem, challenging executive orders that empowered immigration officials to deport noncitizens they deem national security threats. Immigration officers have targeted multiple international students suspected of participating in pro-Palestine protests. Taal is a U.K. and Gambian citizen.

    A few days after he sued, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents visited Taal in what Homeland Security acknowledged “was an attempt to detain him,” he said in a court filing. The State Department had revoked Taal’s visa, according to the lawsuit.

    Now his lawyers have dismissed the case. “Trump did not want me to have my day in court and sent ICE agents to my home,” Taal wrote on X.

    In an email to Inside Higher Ed Tuesday, an unnamed “senior” Homeland Security official called it “a privilege to be granted a visa to live and study” in the U.S.

    “When you advocate for violence and terrorism, that privilege should be revoked, and you should not be in this country,” the official said. “We are pleased to confirm that this Cornell University terrorist sympathizer heeded Secretary Noem’s advice to self-deport.”

    When asked for specifics on when Taal sympathized with terrorism, Homeland Security pointed to where Taal referenced in his Monday post the “Zionist genocide,” and wrote, “Long live the student intifada!” In his post, Taal wrote that the “repression of Palestinian solidarity is now being used to wage a wholesale attack on any form of expression that challenges oppressive and exploitative relations in the US.”

    Taal added, “If you have been led to think that your safety is only guaranteed by state kidnap, repression, deportation, the slaughter of children, and the suppression of the global majority, then let Gaza’s shards of glass be your mirror.”

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