Washington Update (November 2025)-Slides

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The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) Washington Update from November 21, 2025, highlights critical trends and challenges facing higher education. Notable global issues include uncertainty, deteriorating public perception, research funding concerns, declines in international student enrollment, and threats to institutional autonomy. A recent 43-day federal government shutdown underscored partisan conflicts, temporarily resolved by November elections and negotiations among key legislators.<br /><br />A controversial Compact for Academic Excellence mandates conditions such as freezing tuition, limiting international students to 15%, eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts, restricting faculty speech, and enforcing binary gender definitions; most invited universities have rejected these terms. New policies include a $100,000 fee for new H-1B visa applications impacting international faculty recruitment, with higher education sectors seeking exemptions. Changes to graduate student financing under OBBBA impose stricter loan limits, with new caps effective July 1, 2026. Additionally, an executive order is dismantling parts of the U.S. Department of Education, redistributing roles to other federal agencies.<br /><br />Looking ahead, the FY26 budget and National Defense Authorization Act deliberations will affect funding and priorities by January 30, 2026. The Affordable Care Act premium subsidies face decisions between extension and reform. CASE is also hosting advocacy workshops on philanthropy and tax law.<br /><br />A sharp decline in public trust—from 57% to 42% in a decade—is identified as a wake-up call. To address this, CASE, in partnership with BVK, launched the "Proud Sponsor" public service campaign. This initiative aims to reposition colleges as essential contributors to national success by promoting higher education’s broad societal benefits beyond recruitment, fostering grassroots support.<br /><br />The update calls for proactive engagement to rebuild trust and safeguard higher education’s future role in America’s prosperity and security.

Keywords

higher education challenges

government shutdown impact

Compact for Academic Excellence

tuition freeze

international student enrollment

H-1B visa fee increase

graduate student loan limits

Department of Education restructuring

public trust decline

Proud Sponsor campaign