Cases & Developments

The Department of Defense sent a memorandum to senior Pentagon leadership sharing that it plans to eliminate the senior service college fellows programs at 13 institutions as well as 9 other organizations for the 2026-27 academic year. The memorandum identified 21 new partner institutions that could replace the fellowships, stating that these institutions meet the Department’s criteria for “intellectual freedom, minimal relationships with adversaries” and “minimal public expression in opposition to the Department.”   

The American Council on Education (ACE) along with 21 higher education associations sent comments to the House of Representatives on provisions being considered in the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The comments encourage conferees to keep two provisions that align with the research-security systems campuses already use and extend current limits on collaborations with foreign institutions of concern. The comments also urge caution around proposals that are likely to surface in final negotiations such as the SAFE Research Act, new contract prohibitions, and a House provisions that would complicate institutions’ Title VI obligations by overlapping rules for federal funding and responding to antisemitic demonstrations.

The American Council on Education (ACE) has created a higher education executive order tracker which provides a high level overview of each  order (blocked, blocked in part, or in effect) and details the higher education areas that are impacted (civil/human rights & DEI; foreign/ global affairs; government & education; financial; and health & science). The tool also allows users to search for executive orders by keyword and filter by impact area.

The American Council on Education (ACE) sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Energy (the Department) commenting on the adverse impact of the five Direct Final Rules (DFRs) that were used May 15, 2025. The letter discusses how the DFRs would negatively impact students, staff, and faculty, in addition to amending civil rights regulations, and adding unduly burdensome administrative costs. The letter further points out how irregular it is for the Department to attempt to make major changes through DFR process, which is “specifically designed for uncontroversial or insignificant changes,” noting that these proposed changes far exceed that specified standard. The letter concludes by requesting that the Department withdraw the rules and allow further action to be pursued through appropriate administrative processes and allow for public notice and comment.

Memorandum Opinion and Order Granting in Part and Denying in Part Plaintiffs’ Motion for Preliminary Injunction. Plaintiffs, the State of Maryland, the State of Delaware, the State of California, the State of Colorado, the State of Arizona, the State of Connecticut, the District of Columbia, the State of Hawai‘i, the State of Illinois, the Office of the Governor in his official capacity as Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, the State of Maine, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, People of the State of Michigan, the State of Minnesota, the State of Nevada, the State of New Jersey, the State of New Mexico, the State of New York, the State of North Carolina, the State of Oregon, Josh Shapiro in his official capacity as Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the State of Rhode Island, the State of Vermont, the State of Washington, and the State of Wisconsin filed a complaint on April 29, 2025, against the Corporation for National and Community Service, operating as AmeriCorps, and Jennifer Bastress Tahmasebi, in her official capacity as Interim Head of the Corporation for National and Community Service, alleging they have acted unlawfully by attempting to dismantle AmeriCorps, an independent agency of the federal government since 1993. The court found that defendants failed to engage in notice-and-comment rulemaking before making significant changes to service delivery, which resulted in irreparable harm to the plaintiff states. Thus, it granted preliminary injunctive relief to the plaintiffs, and enjoined defendants from enforcing the April 15, 2025, removal of National Civilian Community Corps (“NCCC”) members from service; and the April 25, 2025, termination of grants, instruction to grant recipients to cease all award activities, removal of Volunteers in Service to America (“VISTA”) members from projects, and requirement that AmeriCorps members’ activities cease. Additionally, the Court required defendants to restore the affected AmeriCorps programs in the plaintiff states to the status quo that existed prior to the April 15, 2025, communication regarding NCCC, and the April 25, 2025, terminations, by reinstating terminated grants, and returning to service the AmeriCorps and VISTA members who were serving on those programs. Finally, the Court required defendants to comply with the notice-and-comment requirement in Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024, before making any significant changes in service delivery. It denied the request in all other respects, reasoning that the alleged harm does not satisfy the injury-in-fact requirement for standing as an anticipated delay in adjudicating grant applications due to the loss of staff, on its own, in not a concrete harm. The preliminary injunction shall remain in effect until further order from the Court.

The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) launched their new resource, Alumni for Higher Ed. The webpage is a strategic hub for institutions of higher education intended to specifically channel alumni passion into purposeful advocacy. The webpage offers legislative updates, customizable messaging templates, and links to ACE’s direct advocacy page.