Hello and welcome back to The Markup, Inside Higher Ed’s weekly roundup of all things higher ed policy. I’m your host, Katherine Knott, IHE’s news editor who misses shopping for back to school supplies. My notebook/binder game was strong, y’all!
The Trump administration has now sued 17 states over their policies that make some undocumented students eligible for in-state tuition. Only six states with such policies remain unaffected so far by the Justice Department's nationwide campaign against what are known as tuition-equity laws.
And in the latest development in Trump’s battle with Harvard, a federal judge dismissed the administration’s civil rights lawsuit against the Ivy League institution. The DOJ had alleged Harvard violated Title VI by not sufficiently responding to reports of antisemitic harassment, but the judge said the government didn’t present enough evidence to prove that Harvard is currently out of compliance.
This Week’s Big Story
So let’s talk about funding for education research. The Education Department’s research arm— the Institute of Education Sciences—has been a focus of government criticism since Trump took office. In the early months of 2025, the administration gutted the office and cut more than $1 billion in its contracts, raising questions about the federal government’s support of education research.
More recently, advocates have warned that millions in funding for research grants could expire by Sept. 30. The specific amount of money at risk is unclear, but public records and court filings put the total at about $316 million.
After a group of education-research groups sued the Education Department earlier this summer, ED officials are saying they intend to spend the money in a timely manner. But the plaintiffs question that assurance, in part because the spending plan is vague and hard to interpret.
Your co-host, Jessica Blake, has much more here about where things stand with IES now.
