A settled, long-running lawsuit has created a legal environment that allows colleges and universities to permit student-athletes to be paid for their name, image, and likeness (NIL).
October 10, 2025
high
policy
Legal change affecting compensation for student-athletes' name, image, and likeness.
A 2025 White House 'higher education compact' proposal asked invited universities to commit to policies aligned with the president's political agenda on topics including admissions, women's sports, free speech, and student discipline in exchange for favorable access to federal grants.
October 10, 2025
high
policy
Description of the content and incentive structure of the 2025 White House higher education compact proposal.
Proposals that condition federal funding on universities' adoption of specific institutional policies can raise concerns about limitations on free speech and about institutional independence.
October 10, 2025
high
general_principle
Generalizable concern frequently cited when federal funding is tied to policy or governance requirements for higher education institutions.
Universities commonly provide temporary "bridge" funding to keep research groups afloat between grant awards, and institutions' ability to provide such bridge funding can be constrained by volatility in federal research funding.
October 01, 2025
high
temporal
Describes a recurring institutional practice and its dependence on stable federal funding.
Faculty and public policy experts have argued that conditioning federal funding on specific institutional reforms can be characterized as government overreach that risks undermining university independence and freedom of expression.
high
normative
Summarizes a recurring criticism of proposals that tie government funding to university governance or personnel policies.