WASHINGTON, DC (September 25, 2025)—While college rankings are a fixture of the higher education landscape, shaping family decisions and influencing public perceptions, they fail to capture one of the most decisive factors in institutional vitality: governance and board leadership.
What’s in today’s Briefing? Jewish Americans unimpressed by antisemitism crackdowns. Red tape for Harvard. Reminders that some college presidents are millionaires.
Every day there are new headlines about higher education under fire. Legislators are trying to dictate who can be admitted, what can be taught, withhold approved funding, and even rewrite how boards operate.
In a speech at Hillsdale College on Monday, U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon presented what is perhaps the most detailed vision yet for the Trump administration’s approach to higher education.
U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon laid the most fleshed-out foundation for the Trump administration’s higher education agenda to date Monday, characterizing four-year universities as broken systems that fail to create leaders in an address at Hillsdale College.
What’s in today’s Briefing? Linda McMahon wants college to be hard. An early look at a plan to rework the liberal arts.
After Northwestern University President Michael Schill’s resignation last week, ending a turbulent three-year tenure, the spotlight now shifts to the school’s board — and its chair Peter Barris.
In an opinion article, AGB senior fellow and consultant Kevin Reilly writes: “[B]oards in particular can and need to step up to defend America’s researchers in fields such as science, technology, engineering and mathematics as they follow their expertise to discoveries that benefit the health, economic well-being and national security of our citizens. Boards can assist in warding off politically motivated regulations and budget cuts that senselessly damage this vital progress pipeline.”
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