A Year After the February 14, 2025 USDOE Dear Colleague Letter and Title VI Coordinator Best Practice Issues
Executive Order Breakdown: President Trump's Vision for College Sports and NIL Reform — Highway to NIL Podcast
Shout Outs and Rants: Episode 153, The CW 25 Edition
Rescission of DOE Guidance — Highway to NIL Podcast
DOE Guidance and DOJ Statement of Interest — Highway to NIL Podcast
Title IX — Highway to NIL Podcast
Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast Episode: Recent Developments Affecting Student Loan Origination and Servicing
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Gavels & Gowns - Responding to Borrower Defense to Repayment Applications
Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast Episode: The U.S. Supreme Court’s Decision Invalidating the Biden Administration’s Student Loan Forgiveness Plan and its Potential Legal Repercussions
A Deep Dive into the Debate Over Federal Student Loan Forgiveness
Compliance Perspectives: Changes to Title IX
New Title IX Regulations: A Seismic Shift During a Pandemic (Webinar Recording)
Investigating Sexual Misconduct in High Education: Potential Pitfalls During Title IX Investigations and How to Avoid Them
Congressman: My Plan Would Reduce Student Loan Defaults: Video
On January 7, 2026, the U.S. Department of Education (the “Department”) approved Iowa’s “Returning Education to the States Waiver,” making Iowa the first state to receive such approval. This waiver frees Iowa from several...more
Establishing a new campus-based Office for Civil Rights or Title IX office can feel like building the plane while flying it. When you’re the inaugural coordinator with no preexisting budget, it can be daunting to determine...more
A partial government shutdown began on January 31 after appropriations lapsed for the Departments of Defense, Education, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security (DHS), Housing and Urban Development, Labor, State,...more
Welcome to our January 2026 issue of The Academic Advisor -- our education law insights e-newsletter. We hope you are off to a great start to the spring semester, even though spring is certainly eluding us at present per...more
On January 21, 2026, the United States Department of Education ("ED" or the "Department") stipulated to the dismissal of its appeal in American Federation of Teachers, et al v. U.S. Department of Education, which had been...more
With a looming January 30 government funding deadline, the Administration will begin coordinating contingency plans for a potential partial government shutdown....more
On January 16, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a preliminary injunction in Council for Opportunity in Education v. U.S. Department of Education, finding the U.S. Department of Education (the...more
The Trump Administration has withdrawn its appeal in a lawsuit challenging the Department of Education’s efforts to curtail diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in school districts and colleges throughout the...more
The US Department of Education recently launched a series of Title IX investigations of 18 different colleges and universities, state departments of education, and local public school systems that have policies allowing...more
On Jan. 16, 2026, Federal Student Aid (FSA) announced that it will no longer enforce a rule requiring ownership entities, including corporations and limited liability companies, to sign a Program Participation Agreement (PPA)...more
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) provides parents and eligible students the right to request changes to their education records. FERPA applies to all schools that receive federal funds. Private and...more
In the wake of a Dec. 2, 2025, analysis by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) of race-based programs awarded by the U.S. Department of Education (ED), educational institutions receiving or administering federal education...more
Key Takeaways: President Trump made higher education a focus of his second term, and his administration has targeted colleges and universities in various spaces, including Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Title VI, Title...more
On December 10, 2025, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) published a final rule amending its regulations implementing Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VI”) to eliminate disparate-impact liability. DOJ published...more
The Dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education Continues - The Trump Administration is continuing its efforts to shutter the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) by delegating the responsibility of administering several...more
According to a December 8 Electronic Announcement, students completing the FAFSA will now see a new disclosure flagging an institution as “lower earning” when that institution’s undergraduate completers’ median earnings are...more
Fairfax Cty. Sch. Bd. v. McMahon, Civil Action No. 1:25-cv-1432, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 179299, at *5 (E.D. Va. Sep. 5, 2025). District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia declines to rule on the merits of a school...more
On November 18, 2025, the Trump Administration announced that it will reassign some of the Department of Education’s key programs, including those involving K-12 education, to the Department of Labor. As described by the...more
Thompson Coburn’s Higher Education Litigation Summary is your resource for legal updates on key rulings and ongoing cases shaping the higher education sector. This installment covers updates related to Gainful Employment, the...more
As public school districts approach the end of the fiscal year, the financial strain on special education programs is impossible to ignore. Across the country, administrators are sounding the alarm that a decrease in...more
On November 18, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education (“ED”) announced six new interagency agreements (“IAAs”) designed to reassign responsibilities traditionally vested with ED to four other federal agencies. ...more
Last week, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced a sweeping set of six new interagency agreements (IAAs) that fundamentally alter how major federal education programs will be administered. These agreements —...more
On Nov. 18, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced six new interagency agreements (IAAs) with the departments of Labor (DOL), Interior (DOI), Health and Human Services (HHS) and State. These agreements reflect the...more
On Nov. 18, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced agreements with the Departments of Labor (DOL), Interior (DOI), Health and Human Services (HHS) and State with the intent to reduce administrative burden and...more
The U.S. Department of Education will shift some of its programming and activities by partnering with a new set of federal agencies, the agency announced Tuesday, a move that has implications for both higher education and...more