Welcome back to After the First 100 Days, Inside Higher Ed’s weekly roundup of news from the Hill to the Oval Office. I’m your host, Katherine Knott, IHE’s news editor.
It’s Day 242 of the second Trump administration and the end of a trying week for free speech. In the last few days, key Trump officials have ramped up their calls to avenge Charlie Kirk’s death, saying they would crack down on liberal groups they say are fomenting violence as well as anyone criticizing Kirk. Without presenting any evidence, some conservatives blame higher ed for the shooting. And more institutions have expelled or fired students, faculty and staff for their comments related to the conservative firebrand.
Free speech advocates, college leaders and faculty have raised the alarm about what these actions mean for free expression on campus.
“We can safely confirm that most of the conservative anti-woke warriors were not actually opposed to cancel culture, identity politics, and free speech restrictions,” said Jessica Riedl, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank. “They just wanted to be the ones imposing it instead.”
Meanwhile, thousands of TRIO programs that help students get to and through college didn’t get their money on time this year, as the Trump administration reviews the grants to ensure they comply with the president’s priorities.
The Education Department says it doesn’t have to award the grants until Sept. 30 (the end of the fiscal year), and spokespeople say the agency plans to issue continuation notices by then. However, the delay in funds for programs that started Sept. 1 has led to staff layoffs and cuts in services. More than 2,000 programs serving 650,000 students were affected by the temporary freeze. Nearly $660 million—about half of all TRIO funds—were on hold.
And remember, in his fiscal year 2026 budget, Trump proposed defunding all TRIO programs.,. Congress has so far rejected his proposal, but we are closely watching any disruptions to funding. Since we reported on the TRIO freeze at the start of the week, the department released funding for some programs, but it cancelled grants for other programs after reviewing them. (If your work has been affected, please get in touch. I’m at katherine.knott@insidehighered.com.)
In Other News: Historically Black colleges and universities and tribal colleges are getting an extra $495 million from the Education Department thanks in part to the decision last week to defund several grant programs for minority-serving institutions.
HBCU and tribal college advocates say their institutions need the money, but some are worried about the source of the funds and see this move as the administration pitting minority groups against each other.
“This adjustment brings new resources to our institutions, but also presents obstacles for students who rely on other supports,” said the American Indian Higher Education Consortium.
But Lodriguez Murray, senior vice president of public policy and government affairs at the United Negro College Fund, which represents private HBCUs, said the funds are “nothing short of a godsend” and he has “no pause about receiving the funds.”
The Trump administration, he added, is channeling “resources toward the institutions that seem to need it the most—and the institutions that have a better track record at taking students from underserved backgrounds and … changing the economic outlook of their lives.”
On Deck for Next Week:
- The government could shut down Oct. 1 if Congress doesn’t reach a spending deal by the end of the month. The odds of a deal coming together aren’t looking great at the moment, but it’s Congress and anything can happen.
That’s it for Week 35. If, or when, news breaks this afternoon or over the weekend, you can find the latest at InsideHigherEd.com. In the meantime, I’ll be celebrating at H Street Festival and rewatching Robert Irwin’s jive from Dancing With the Stars. How good is the cast this season?! Have a good weekend!
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