Good morning, and welcome to Wednesday, January 29. Rick Seltzer wrote today’s Briefing. Julia Piper compiled Comings and Goings. Get in touch: dailybriefing@chronicle.com.

Federal-grant confusion reigns

Colleges spent yesterday scrambling to understand a surprise pause on federal grants and loans, as our Jasper Smith reports. Then a federal judge blocked the measure for a few days.

President Trump’s budget office ordered federal agencies to freeze much of the funding they disburse. A memo that became public late on Monday called for agencies to submit the results of spending reviews by February 10 so the new administration can determine “the best uses of the funding … consistent with the law and the president’s priorities.”

• The White House sent federal agencies specific questions for more than 2,600 government accounts, Roll Call reported. They asked, for example, if programs “promote gender ideology,” abortion, or diversity, equity, and inclusion work.

Colleges woke up to the news on Tuesday without clarity on what spending was suspended. The Office of Management and Budget reserved the right to grant case-by-case exceptions and exempted “assistance provided directly to individuals” from the freeze.

Education Department officials hurried to say that federal Pell Grants and student loans would keep flowing. Such Title IV funding falls under the exemption that allows continued spending on assistance provided to individuals, Madison Biedermann, a spokesperson, said in a statement Tuesday morning.

• Forgive pedants for wondering: Federal student aid doesn’t technically go directly to individuals. It’s sent first to colleges, which then disburse the money to students.

By early afternoon, the department clarified further that only its discretionary grants were frozen. The temporary pause does not impact Title I, IDEA, or other formula grants, Biedermann said, adding that the DOE is working with the federal OMB to identify other programs not covered by the memo.

Then came more details: Funding for minority-serving institutions won’t be stopped. Historically Black colleges and minority-serving institutions receive funding under Title III and Title V of the Higher Education Act.

• “The Administration strongly supports HBCUs and MSIs,” the Education Department told the Daily Briefing in a statement. “Funds flowing under those grant programs will not be paused, but we will work to ensure the programs are in line with the President’s priorities.”

Multiply that trickle of information across other federal agencies. Colleges don’t just receive funding from the Education Department. Veterans Affairs handles GI benefits. The Department of Agriculture funds extension services. The National Institutes of Health makes research grants — though it’s already subject to other Trump-administration restrictions.

• “I think every agency is scrambling,” Sarah Spreitzer, vice president and chief of staff for government relations at the American Council on Education, told the Daily Briefing. “I am hopeful it will somehow be coordinated so we’re getting similar guidance from every agency.”

The White House said the memo was only supposed to align spending with Trump’s executive orders, including those trying to stamp out DEI and foreign aid. But states nonetheless had trouble accessing Medicaid funds, and preschool centers had difficulty getting reimbursements under the Head Start program, The Washington Post reported.

Within 24 hours, colleges clamped down on spending. Administrators at the University of Mississippi told a biology professor not to charge feed for live animals to federal grants because it was impossible to guarantee the professor would be reimbursed, according to Mississippi Today/Open Campus. The University of Chicago’s provost told faculty members not to buy new supplies, start new experiments, or travel on federal funding lines while the White House’s memo is in effect, the Chicago Sun Times reported.

Higher-ed associations balked. ACE, the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, and the National Association of College and University Business Officers called for the funding freeze to be rolled back. Here’s a sample of statements from association leaders:

• “This is bad public policy, and it will have a direct impact on the funds that support students and research,” Ted Mitchell, ACE’s president, said. “The longer this goes on, the greater the damage will be.”
• “This action will sideline world-leading American scientists who are working toward cures for cancer, developing breakthroughs in AI and quantum computing, driving progress in advanced manufacturing, and supporting American farmers,” Mark Becker, APLU’s president, said.
• “We are deeply concerned how these actions may negatively impact student success and the ability of our institutions to continue to deliver educational programs and services,” Charles L. Welch, president of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, said.
• “The recent flurry of executive orders from the new Trump administration have caused colleges and universities to divert attention away from their primary missions to interpret how potential program reviews and funding restrictions will harm their students, research, and communities,” Kara D. Freeman, NACUBO’s president, said.

Democrats called the move illegal. Several state attorneys general sued to stop it. So did advocacy groups for nonprofit organizations and small businesses, Reuters reported.

• The Impoundment Control Act, a Nixon-era law, limits the president’s ability to choose not to spend money appropriated by Congress. A White House Q&A maintained that the freeze is a “temporary pause” and not an impoundment — a distinction that the courts may have to decide.

At the end of the day, a judge blocked agencies from implementing the spending freeze. U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan issued a stay to “preserve the status quo” until oral arguments can be heard on Monday.

The bigger picture: This isn’t just an esoteric legal battle pitting Trump’s expansionist executive branch against Congress’s power of the purse. The confusion threatens to send colleges into penny-pinching mode, and even a limited spending freeze could disrupt research and other programs that are harder to restart than they are to pause.

Read the full story: A Federal Funding Pause Sent Shockwaves Through Higher Ed. Here’s What We Know.

Trump news dump

• Executive order to reshape military-academy curriculum: An executive order calls for the secretaries of defense and homeland security to “carefully review the leadership, curriculum, and instructors” of the service academies and other defense-related academic institutions to stamp out diversity, equity, and inclusion work. It also says the institutions “shall be required to teach that America and its founding documents remain the most powerful force for good in human history.” (The White House)
• Education Department censorship? Researchers funded by the agency were told not to publish information about their results without a press secretary’s approval. The “temporary pause” requiring prior approval also covered social-media posts. But Madi Biedermann, the new DOE press secretary, told The Washington Post the rule was supposed to apply only to contractors who run agency programs and not academic researchers. (The Washington Post)
• LSU sidelines law professor over classroom comments: Ken Levy, a criminal-law professor with tenure, revealed he was a Democrat and referred to President Trump “in some colorful terms” during a class for first-year students this month, his lawyer said. He also objected to Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican, criticizing a fellow law professor, and he discussed potential changes to case law under the Supreme Court. Louisiana State University informed him by letter that he’d been removed from teaching because of the comments, which his lawyer alleges is content-based censorship that denied the professor due process. (The Times Picayune)
• Berea College union petition withdrawn: Students who wanted to organize at the private work college in Kentucky, which requires 10 hours per week of on-campus labor, withdrew their petition to the National Labor Relations Board last week. They followed similar moves by other labor organizers in higher ed, including the Dartmouth College men’s basketball team, who worried officials in the Trump administration could rule against their efforts and create precedent for limiting future union drives. Indeed, President Trump this week ousted top NLRB officials who are considered pro-labor. (WEKU, Bloomberg)
• Michigan State calls off DEI webinar: A webinar about the future of diversity, equity, and inclusion at Michigan State University that was scheduled for Tuesday has been delayed, with organizers saying they hope to reschedule in February, possibly under a different name. They’re trying to interpret the Trump administration’s recent executive orders, which include measures targeting DEI at federal contractors and private entities including universities. (Bridge Michigan)

Quote of the day

“I was very much looking forward to writing.”

— Seth Stevens, a senior studying English at Seton Hill university, told the Tribune-Review he’s sad the Western Pennsylvania institution’s student newspaper has shut down

Seton Hill placed The Setonian student newspaper on “indefinite hiatus,” according to an email sent to its editor-in-chief. Here’s why:

• Faculty members lacked the capacity to advise the publication.
• Shifts to digital formats.
• A lack of support for journalism in culture.
• Few students in the journalism major.
• Insufficient institutional clarity on the paper’s editorial processes, faculty advising’s role, the role of the faculty adviser, and the university’s role in content moderation.

The university hopes to revive the publication this fall, a spokesperson told the Tribune-Review, denying a suggestion that the move was motivated by censorship.

The bigger question: What better way to build a culture that doesn’t support independent journalism than to bring up “clarity” in moderating content?

Quick hits

• AG cuts Saint Augustine’s lifeline deal: The North Carolina attorney general’s office opted against approving a land-lease proposal that was pitched as a way to keep the financially struggling institution afloat, raising concerns about the deal’s value and Saint Augustine’s ability to continue operations. The university wants to lease its property to a developer for 99 years, but the attorney general’s office said the $70 million that Saint Augustine’s would be due is far below the property’s $198-million value. Saint Augustine’s could keep the deal alive by renegotiating its terms or providing state officials with more information, though university leaders previously said the institution’s future would be in jeopardy if the attorney general didn’t sign off by the end of last week. (WRAL)
• U. of Florida dismisses complaint against basketball coach: An investigation found no evidence to support allegations of sexual harassment, sexual exploitation, and stalking, and cyberbullying against Todd Golden, according to the lawyer for the men’s head basketball coach. The university confirmed those findings in a statement saying it conducted “dozens of interviews.” Golden wasn’t suspended, continuing to coach even after the allegations were made public in November. (USA Today)
• Ohio State lost money on athletics last year: The university’s athletics department reported a $37.7-million operating deficit to the NCAA for the fiscal year ending in June 2024 as spending on coach compensation rose even as royalties, sponsorships, and contributions declined. Ohio State spent $292.3 million, the second-highest total recorded for a Division I institution since the NCAA’s reporting system started in 2005. That trails only $325 million the University of Texas at Austin spent in 2024, though the Lone Star State’s flagship posted a slim surplus. (USA Today)

Comings and goings

• William H. Sanders, dean of the College of Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, has been named president of the Rochester Institute of Technology’s.
• John Roberson, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Campbell University, will step down and join the faculty at the end of the academic year in May.
• Chon Noriega, a professor in the department of film, television, and digital media at the University of California at Los Angeles, has been named interim dean of the university’s School of Theater, Film, and Television.
• Maria Sexton, chief information officer at the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada, has been named senior vice president and chief information officer at the University of Tennessee Medical Center.

To submit a new-hire announcement, email people@chronicle.com.

Footnote

Readers are weighing in on good television shows about college. Today’s recommendation comes from John M. Pezzuto, professor and dean at Western New England University’s College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences:

“In my opinion, forget about TV shows related to college and re-watch The Paper Chase and Breaking Away. It doesn’t get better.”

Footnote aficionados will no doubt note that this is the second Paper Chase a reader has mentioned, after the television series of the same name. I haven’t seen either, but as a former reporter in Bloomington, Ind., where Breaking Away is set, I join John in highly recommending that film.

📺 Do you know a good TV show about college? Email the show’s name and why you like it to dailybriefing@chronicle.com. Include your name and title, and your submission could appear in a future Footnote.