Higher education advocates are hoping for a bigger fight from universities in 2026 after President Trump’s first year in office focused on attacks against colleges through funding and federal investigations.
Universities watched with fear as the Trump administration paused millions of dollars in research funding, demanded leadership and policy changes at multiple schools, attacked diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and targeted international students in ways both broad and specific.
“I think the assaults on some of our most storied educational institutions were nothing short of shocking and yet not surprising. I think it is very difficult in this environment to think about what the strategic thing to do is, which is quite different from what the right thing to do is,” said Ray Brescia, a professor at Albany Law School.
“I think the right thing to do is to stand up for academic freedom and the values that the American university is supposed to stand for, but, at the same time, it is very hard, very difficult for an institution to look at the assault on it and to not say, ‘Hey, is there some way to get out of this?’” Brescia added.
Multiple high-profile schools sought ways to get out of the administration’s sight, with Columbia University paying a hefty fine and the University of Virginia allegedly ousting its president under pressure from the Trump administration to get federal investigations dropped.
The year wasn’t all smooth sailing for the Trump administration, which lost multiple cases in court in its quest to reshape higher education, including in its high-profile fight against Harvard University.
Harvard is one of several colleges the administration has accused of failing to protect its students against antisemitism. But the nation’s oldest and richest school has dug in against the White House, rejecting months of pressure from Trump, while other schools have tried to curry his favor.
“One of the lessons is that universities should invest in strong legal and policy teams and build contingency plans for sudden retaliatory shifts. I think last year many campus leaders thought if they kept their head down, mind their own business, that they wouldn’t be attacked. But that wasn’t the case,” said Lynn Pasquerella, president of the American Association of Colleges and Universities.
The Education Department told The Hill it wants to see colleges focus on reducing the cost for students and ensuring they are using taxpayer dollars responsibly.
“Building on the reforms advanced by the Trump Administration last year, the Department of Education would like to see colleges and universities continue to make progress in aligning programs with workforce needs, expanding high-ROI pathways for students, and reducing costs by cutting unnecessary administrative bloat,” said Ellen Keast, press secretary for higher education.
“The Department is also focused on continued improvements in academic rigor, ensuring that federal funds support high-quality instruction and research, and strengthening protections for the nation’s research enterprise against malign foreign influence,” she added. “Institutions that are committed to educational excellence, responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars, student safety, and full compliance with federal law will have no problems partnering with the Department to continue accessing generous taxpayer support for their programs.”
Harvard in 2025 secured wins in court to restore pulled federal funding and to stop actions to take away its ability to enroll foreign students.
Trump and Education Secretary Linda McMahon have both repeatedly said a deal between the university and the administration is close, but nothing has come of it. The administration also recently appealed the ruling that ended its funding freeze against Harvard.
While Harvard has so far been able to hold its own, other schools sought to comply in advance with the White House’s directives, though those preventative measures have not always been effective.
“There was nothing that that any individual leader did that prevented them from being attacked. We saw both friends and foes of the Trump administration who were threatened with a loss of funds and a variety of other executive mandates, so building contingency plans for sudden retaliatory shifts and avoiding over-reliance on any single federal funding stream is really important,” Pasquerella said.
The administration had also offered a funding compact to a group of nine universities, pledging preferential treatment in exchange for institutional changes, and none of the nine have announced plans to accept it.
Some experts are hoping to see more procedural policy discussions at the Education Department this year, in contrast to the quick actions taken last year by the White House against universities.
“A lot of this comes from the White House. A lot of this is driven by either personal grudges or political motivation,” said Jon Fansmith, senior vice president for government relations and national engagement at the American Council of Education, adding that the administration’s actions are not winning over the public and “they’re not getting the kinds of settlements that I think are making people, even people who are hostile to higher ed, happy.”
An October Quinnipiac poll showed 55 percent of Americans thought the government went too far in its pressure against universities, and 57 percent are against federal involvement in the operation of colleges.
After the budget reconciliation passed last year, Fansmith said he was excited to see announcements of more negotiated rulemaking sessions, allowing stakeholders to give input on proposed regulations and policy changes at the department.
“As we turn the page and they start to look at things that may have a more substantive and lasting impact, you’re getting back into the space of what the law dictates, what is a good policy. So yeah, I am hopeful that’s where we’re going,” he added. “We’ll see we’re ready to work in either way with however the administration moves forward, but certainly would prefer thoughtful, substantive policy to only political public attacks.”
