Colleges have spent years building systems to help students vote. Now a mix of federal guidance, investigations, and state-level changes is putting new pressure on that work. ACE General Counsel Peter McDonough joins us to explain where the legal lines are and where uncertainty is creating risk. But first, the hosts discuss the recent higher education policy developments from the past few weeks, from the Trump administration's FY 2027 budget proposal to the Education Department's draft rule on accreditation.

The hosts are joined by ACE's Emmanual Guillory to break down key federal rulemaking shaping student aid. The conversation focuses on the latest developments in graduate loan limits, new rules for Workforce Pell and what it will take for institutions to participate, and the Department of Education's expanded IPEDS data collection.

At ACEx2026 in Washington, DC, the dotEDU team recorded a special live episode during a session at the ACE Annual Meeting. Instead of the usual format, hosts Mushtaq Gunja, Sarah Spreitzer, and Jon Fansmith took turns posing questions to each other about the direction of federal higher education policy in 2026: how it may differ from the first year of President Trump's second term, what the year's major policy stories could be, where their lobbying efforts have and have not gained traction, and how to advocate effectively for colleges and universities in a contentious environment. The episode concludes with questions from the audience.

The hosts run a rapid-fire policy lightning round on the biggest higher ed issues right now, from federal funding and a looming Pell shortfall to new graduate loan limits. They also dig into two fast-moving flashpoints: the Education Department's scrutiny of a long-running student voting study and the administration's escalating actions aimed at Harvard, including potential impacts on service members' education benefits. Plus, an update on Sarah's favorite topic, Section 117 foreign gift reporting.

Here are some of the links and references from this week's show:

How Congress's Budget Could Hamper Trump ED Agenda Inside Higher Ed | Feb. 12, 2026

National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement

U.S. Department of Education Takes Actions to Protect Integrity of U.S. Elections Department of Education | Feb. 5. 2026

Education Dept. Tells Universities Not to Use Student Voting Data Inside Higher Ed | Feb. 5, 2026

dotEDU: Debates, Flies, and Political Engagement at the University of Utah

New SAVE Act Bills Would Still Block Millions of Americans From Voting Brennan Center for Justice | Feb. 9, 2026

dotEDU: What the Headlines Miss About Higher Ed: A Conversation with Kirk Carapezza

Justice Department Sues Harvard for Admissions Records The New York Times | Feb. 13, 2026

Department of Defense Severs Academic Ties With Harvard Inside Higher Ed | Feb. 10, 2026

Reimagining and Improving Student Education Federal Register | Jan. 30, 2026

Summary: ​The U.S. Department of Education's Proposal on OBBB RISE Notice of Proposed Rulemaking ACE

**Contact Congress to Urge a Broader Professional Degree Definition**

U.S. Department of Education Announces Negotiated Rulemaking to Reform and Strengthen America's Higher Education Accreditation System Department of Education | Jan. 26, 2026

U.S. Department of Education Issues Proposed Interpretive Rule to Eliminate the Use of "Regional" by Accrediting Agencies Department of Education | Feb. 13, 2026

Section 117 Foreign Gift and Contract Public Transparency Dashboard Department of Education

U.S. Department of Education Releases Latest Foreign Funding Disclosures from Federally-Funded American Universities Department of Education | Feb. 11, 2026

The national conversation about higher education shifted dramatically in 2025. In this episode recorded in Boston in December, Jon Fansmith and Mushtaq Gunja talk with GBH News correspondent Kirk Carapezza about the reporting landscape and the pressures facing colleges beyond the headlines.

Here are some of the links and references from this week's show:

Brandeis bets big on rebuilding the liberal arts around real-world skills GBH | Dec. 2, 2025

Colleges hope to 'AI-proof' their offerings as new tech changes job expectations GBH | Oct. 29, 2025

Local colleges targeted amid growing campus culture wars GBH | Sept. 24, 2025

College Uncovered Season 4: The Demographic Cliff

College Uncovered Season 4 Bonus: The New College Compact

College Uncovered Season 2, Episode 4: Closing Time

Amherst College: 1,900 Students, 850 Courses. What's Not To Like? On Campus | Aug. 3, 2016

Questions about the future of federal TRIO programs—academic and support services for low-income, first-generation, and disabled students—come up more than almost any other topic on the podcast. We're joined this week by Kimberly Jones, president of the Council for Opportunity in Education, for a conversation about where TRIO stands and what may be ahead. We begin with some speculation on whether or not we're heading toward a partial government shutdown, and the latest on the Department of Education's moves on accreditation.

Here are some of the links and references from this week's show:

Contact Congress to Urge a Broader Professional Degree Definition

2026 Winter Term Pulse Point Survey (PDF)

House Passes FY 2026 Spending Package Preserving Education and Research Funding as Senate Showdown Looms ACE | Jan. 26, 2026

ACE, Higher Ed Groups Urge Congress to Safeguard FY 2026 Education Funding ACE | Oct. 1, 2025

Letter to Congress on MSI Funding ACE | Oct. 3, 2025

Education Dept. Drops Appeal of Court Order Blocking Anti-DEI Guidance Inside Higher Ed | Jan. 22, 2026

Higher Ed Groups Back Harvard in Appeal Challenging Trump Proclamation on International Students ACE | Jan. 21, 2026

U.S. Department of Education Announces Negotiated Rulemaking to Reform and Strengthen America's Higher Education Accreditation System Department of Education | Jan. 26, 2026

ED Eyes Rewrite of Accreditation Rules Inside Higher Ed | Jan. 27, 2026

Comments on the Education Department's Proposed Revisions to the Accreditation Handbook ACE | Jan. 26, 2026

NACIQI Members Stalemate on Picking New Chair Republic Report (December 2025)

Council for Opportunity in Education and TRIO Programs

COE Trio Advocacy

Congressional Outreach Packet

Federal Court Orders Reconsideration of Canceled TRIO Grants Inside Higher Ed | Jan . 20, 2026

Trump's DEI Crackdown Closes 120 TRIO Programs Inside Higher Ed | Oct. 27, 2025

Trump Administration Delays $660M for College Access Programs Inside Higher Ed | Sept. 12 2025

Valerie Fuller, president of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, visited the podcast to talk about how new federal loan limits will change what graduate students can borrow and why nursing may no longer be considered a professional degree. The hosts also looked at the appropriations outlook on Capitol Hill, negotiations on rulemaking to implement the One Big Beautiful Bill, and more.

Here are some of the links and references from this week's show:

Valerie Fuller, president of American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP)

Graduate and Professional Student Loan Limits Under the OBBB

National Nurse Practitioner Organizations Express Concern Over Department of Education Negotiated Rulemaking Nov. 21, 2025

AANP Advocacy Center

Bills Introduced to Address Changes to Graduate Lending Programs NAICU Washington Update | Dec. 19, 2025

Nurses Continue to Lead in Honesty and Ethics Ratings Gallup | Jan. 12, 2026

U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon Statement on the Office of Legal Counsel's Opinion on the Constitutionality of Race-Based Higher Education Grant Programs

Negotiated Rulemaking for Higher Education 2025 Department of Education

AHEAD Committee's Second Rulemaking Session Results in Consensus on Accountability Framework ACE | Jan. 12, 2026

ED Panel Signs Off on New Earnings Test Inside Higher Ed | Jan. 9, 2026

Negotiators Reach Consensus on Pell Regulations ACE | Dec. 15, 2025

Consensus Reached on Workforce Pell, Earnings Test Looms Inside Higher Ed | Dec. 15, 2026

In this final episode of 2025, hosts Mushtaq Gunja, Sarah Spreitzer, and Jon Fansmith spend the hour taking questions on the policy shifts and challenges campuses are watching most closely and the developments expected to matter early in 2026.

Here are some of the links and references from this week's show:

Lucy Dacus and Hozier, Bullseye

Jason Isbell, Bury Me

Stranger Things Season 5 (Netflix)

The dotEDU hosts look back at a year that reshaped higher education in ways few expected back in January. Mushtaq, Sarah, and Jon talk through their top five stories of 2025, including the push to dismantle the Department of Education, the cuts at NIH and NSF, the sweeping changes in the One Big Beautiful Bill, and Congress's response to it all.

Here are some of the links and references from this week's show:

Register now for ACEx, Feb. 25-28, 2026, in Washington, DC

Higher Education & The Trump Administration: Resources

Trump Administration Higher Ed Executive Order Tracker

Full coverage of the 2nd Trump administration from The Chronicle of Higher Education

The U.S. Is Funding Fewer Grants in Every Area of Science and Medicine The New York Times (sub. req.) | Oct. 3, 2025

For International Education Week, Sarah and Jon talk with Dr. Judyth Sachs, chief academic officer at Studiosity, about the pressures students face across borders—well-being, finances, language, and the challenge of feeling at home on campus—and how these issues are shaping the choices international students make about where to study. Sachs also offers a frank view of how "Brand USA" is being perceived abroad and what that means for global competition for students and scholars.

But first, the hosts walk through the newest Open Doors data showing a 17 percent drop in new international student enrollment and what the numbers suggest about visa policy, research funding, and the trajectory of U.S. higher education in the year ahead.

Here are some of the links and references from this week's show:

2025 Open Doors Report

Open Doors Data Portal

IIE Press Release on Open Doors 2025

Studiosity website

Studiosity Global Student Wellbeing Survey

Australian Government Department of Education Student Experience Survey (SES) – International Key Findings

From Cash Cows to Valued Voices Report (Australia)

International Students and the Australian Economy (Reserve Bank of Australia Bulletin) — July 2025