Trump's higher ed shakeup starts a new semester

Students are returning to campus as the Trump administration continues to reshape American academia.

The big picture: The administration has leveraged federal education funding and threatened litigation against universities deemed misaligned with policy priorities — moves critics say subject academia to political whims.

State of play: The all-of-government squeeze on higher education continues a 19-month battle that has brought scrutiny of international collaboration, threats to research funding, litigation and possible accreditation overhauls.

"It was an earthquake in January of 2025," says Stuart Shapiro, the dean of Rutgers' School of Planning and Public Policy who worked in the Office of Management and Budget.

"The relationship between government and academia, which really has its birth in the post-World War II era, has never seen a shakeup like that since then." "We're still living with that," he says.

Research funding After the administration's cuts and freezes last year rocked research , universities and advocates are raising red flags about an OMB proposal to overhaul federal grant-making.

The proposed rule would require political appointees to review grant requests and make it easier to terminate those that don't align with agency priorities.

OMB argued that federal grants have promoted "a 'woke' policy agenda" and require "more oversight." Worth noting: The Senate's bipartisan stopgap measure would temporarily block the rule, which critics warn would undermine merit, innovation and international collaboration.

"The tragedy of back to school in 2026 is that there will be fewer graduate students and fewer scientists pursuing cures for diseases because of the uncertainty that's been created by OMB," Research!America President and CEO Russ Paulsen tells Axios.

International students and collaboration New international enrollment dropped last year , pushing students to rival hubs.

Earlier this month, the Pentagon ordered 30 institutions to audit their foreign collaboration by August 31 to maintain federal research funding, citing national security.

The OMB proposal also restricts certain foreign collaboration.

"Nobody ... is suggesting that we should not be mindful of research security," Paulsen says, "but we also need to be mindful of overly broad restrictions that could undermine our nation's ability to be in the forefront." Zoom out: The administration is also changing how long international students can stay in the U.S., sparking a court challenge .

Under the rule , effective September 15, student admission will be capped at four years, rather than the previous "duration of status" policy.