“It’s a difficult, delicate moment right now. And I’m not sure we have all the answers,” Kevin Yee, director of the Faculty Center for Teaching & Learning at the University of Central Florida, told Inside Higher Ed. “If faculty had an AI detector that was reliable, that’s what they would use. But many are reluctantly moving in the direction of assignment redesign because they are at wit’s end” over AI-powered cheating. From what he’s observed, about half of faculty want to make as few changes as possible to AI-proof their assessments. But staying the course may be a viable option only for those who teach in-person classes with fewer than 30 students. In a small environment, “they can actually succeed in convincing students not to take these shortcuts, establishing strong relationships and convincing students that the learning is really what matters here,” he said. “In larger classes, there’s less of a personal connection between students and faculty, so faculty need to redesign their assessments to be more AI-resilient or a completely kind of deliverable that AI can’t do, such as a blue book exam or an in-person oral exam.”
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Wednesday, August 12, 2026
OpenAI wants teachers and profs to foist their work off on ChatGPT - The Register
The House of Altman announced a trio of new education-focused offerings on Tuesday: one for K-12 teachers, another for college educators, and a third for college students. The new plugins, the company explained, will help students and educators make more use of ChatGPT’s agentic capabilities for both studying and teaching. The new features are available through ChatGPT Edu, an institutionally licensed suite for higher education, and ChatGPT for Teachers, a free resource available to verified US K–12 educators and school districts. The new offerings, says OpenAI, build on its educational AI philosophy that “AI should support learning, not shortcut it, and the best learning experiences keep educators and students in control.”
Education Department Approves First Workforce Pell Program - Sara Weissman, Inside Higher Ed
Students in an EMT program at Iowa Central Community College will be the first to take advantage of Workforce Pell. The U.S. Department of Education approved its first Workforce Pell program, for training emergency medical technicians at Iowa Central Community College, according to a Tuesday announcement. Students can now access Pell Grants, federal financial aid for low-income students, to pay for the 14-week program. “After decades of debate and a lot of hard work, Workforce Pell is finally here—opening up new opportunities for students to use their Pell Grants on programs that will help them jumpstart their careers,” U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a statement. “Today’s announcement demonstrates our commitment to providing students with affordable pathways to rewarding careers without taking on significant debt.”
Tuesday, August 11, 2026
Public Colleges Anchor State Workforce Pipelines - Kathryn Palmer, Inside Higher Ed
The type of college a person graduates from is one of the strongest predictors of whether they’ll remain in the state to work after graduation, new data shows. According to a report the Strada Institute for the Future of Work published Thursday, 62 percent of workers between the ages of 20 and 65 who graduated from a public institution attended college in their home state and now work there, compared to 44 percent of workers who graduated from a private, nonprofit institution who did the same. “State support permits public colleges to subsidize tuition for in-state students, helping to retain these students for college and often after college as well, making public postsecondary institutions anchors for states’ talent development,” the report says. “Private colleges typically do not offer such discounts; thus, students are less incentivized to choose a private college in their home state.”
Fitch: New visa limits could hurt international enrollment and revenue - Natalie Schwartz, Higher Ed Dive
The Trump administration’s new rule capping international student visa stays at four years could hurt revenue and decrease enrollment at colleges, particularly those that heavily rely on foreign students, according to a Tuesday analysis from Fitch Ratings. Financial pressure will be greatest on institutions with weaker student demand, limited financial flexibility, and a high reliance on tuition and fee revenue, Fitch analysts said. Colleges with significant STEM and graduate offerings could also be particularly hit hard, as it often takes more than four years to complete such programs. These institutions may face higher expenses “to address overseas recruitment challenges,” the analysts wrote.
Differential engagement with generative artificial intelligence in higher education: Gender, motivation, and achievement trajectories - uan-Hsuan Lee & Jiun-Yu Wu, International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education
Engagement frequency was shaped by learner differences: female students, those with stronger autonomous motivation, lower prior knowledge, and higher course performance interacted more frequently, while higher-performing students were less likely to abstain from use. Importantly, engagement was not merely a matter of frequency but of inquiry quality and diversity. Growing Achievers (students who began with weaker achievement but demonstrated substantial performance gains) posed more diverse and conceptually oriented questions. In contrast, Declining Performers engaged minimally and focused on narrower, procedural inquiries despite stronger initial knowledge.
Monday, August 10, 2026
Why reinvention is the new responsibility of public higher education - Anthony Graham, Pine Bluss Commercial
Leadership scholars have long observed that every system is perfectly designed to produce the results it produces. This simple observation carries profound implications for higher education. If our universities are producing outcomes that no longer meet the needs of today’s students, employers, and communities, the answer cannot be to simply work harder within the same organizational structures. We must have the courage to ask a more fundamental question: Are our institutions designed for the future we are trying to create or for the past we have inherited? Artificial intelligence is reshaping nearly every profession. Employers increasingly seek graduates who combine technical expertise with communication, critical thinking, data literacy, creativity, ethical judgment, and adaptability. Demographic shifts are reducing the number of traditional college-age students across much of the country, while public expectations for accountability and return on investment continue to rise.
A $40,000-Per-Year AI School With No Teachers Is Opening in Oklahoma - Maya Henry, Good Men Project
An AI-powered, billionaire-backed chain of private schools promises to educate students with two hours of virtual learning a day and entrepreneurship workshops. There are no teachers, and tuition is nearly double the most expensive private school in the state. This is Alpha School and, come August, it’s touching down in Oklahoma. Here’s how it works, according to Alpha: Students start each morning on a laptop, with two hours on Alpha’s adaptive, AI learning platform. Half an hour is allotted to each core subject: math, reading, science and social studies. Then, in the afternoon, students learn through projects and workshops that build life skills. Alpha’s rejection of tradition is its draw; for one soon-to-be Alpha parent, whose son will start eighth grade at the Tulsa location, the workshops and highly personalized learning convinced her family to commit.
AI use mirrors student schedules in study of 77,000 online learners - André Adler, Phys.org
This makes it the world's largest empirical analysis to date of the actual use of a dedicated AI learning assistant in a higher education context. Syntea is currently available to more than 80,000 online students at IU International University of Applied Sciences, as well as around 5,000 learners at IU Academy.
Among other findings, the analysis revealed the following:
Syntea is widely used: Around 58% of the students included in the study used Syntea during the observation period.
The use of Syntea reflects students' different study and life circumstances: While most interactions take place during weekday daytime hours, part-time students are more likely to use the AI learning companion outside regular working hours, particularly in the evenings and on weekends.
Students across all age groups use the AI learning companion: Around 64% of Generation Z students (born 1997–2012) use Syntea, compared with around 50% of Generation X students (1965–1980) and 38% of Baby Boomers (1946–1964).
Women use Syntea slightly more frequently than men (59% compared with 55%).
Friday, August 7, 2026
Montana Tech Names First Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer in Montana University System - Amanda Badovinac, Montana Tech
Recognizing the transformative impact of emerging technologies on higher education and industry, Montana Technological University has appointed Professor Chad Okrusch, Ph.D. to serve as the university’s first chief artificial intelligence officer. The position is the first of its kind in the Montana University System (MUS). As chief artificial intelligence officer, Okrusch will lead Montana Tech’s strategic integration of artificial intelligence across campus, ensuring that students, faculty, and staff are equipped to navigate, utilize, and shape the future of AI responsibly.
Public health courses provide opportunities for international collaboration and learning - Mellissa Withers, Keck School of Medicine, USC
Both of these courses are delivered online to facilitate international collaboration and participation across partner institutions, and are open to USC students in any modality or concentration. Students from outside of the MPH program are also welcome to enroll.
Illinois Institute of Technology cuts 160 faculty and staff just before fall semester - Lisa Kurian Philip, Chicago Sun time
The Illinois Institute of Technology has laid off approximately 160 faculty and staff just before the start of the fall semester, a university spokesperson said in a written statement. According to an email shared with WBEZ, the university’s president said Illinois Tech is facing research funding cuts and “severe restrictions on international students.” “The university has no choice but to pursue targeted reductions to address these challenges and protect our mission as an opportunity engine for all,” Illinois Tech President Raj Echambadi wrote in an email to employees on Tuesday. Illinois Tech, which has its main campus in Bronzeville and a law center downtown, is not the only university with these struggles. The Trump administration has significantly cut federal funding for university research and tightened regulations on foreign students.
Thursday, August 6, 2026
How to set up an effective internship program - Roopa Venkatesh, et al; Journal of Accountancy
Learn what practitioners can do to attract stronger internship candidates and build a robust on-ramp for long-term accounting careers. Internships are important on-ramps into the accounting profession, but they’re not working equally well for everyone. Students are eager for experience. Many firms are eager for talent. And yet, a surprising number of qualified accounting students can’t land internships, while employers continue to report gaps in skills, communication, and readiness. To better understand how accounting internships are working and where they’re falling short, we surveyed two key groups: 100 undergraduate and graduate accounting majors and representatives of 22 employers from local firms to regional offices of national companies actively hiring and managing interns. The survey was conducted over several months beginning in late 2024 into 2025. Students were enrolled at a large, public university, and employers ranged in size from local to international firms and companies.
Why outcomes now dominate the college search - Alcino Donadel, University Business
Students are now turning down Ivy Leagues for institutions that better communicate ROI and affordability, says one leader in the college consulting space. Economic uncertainty, artificial intelligence and affordability have flipped recruitment on its head as today’s learners are far more interested in how a college will help them thrive after graduation than previous generations. “I think the current group of students is way more outcome-focused than at any time that I’ve been in this industry for almost three decades,” says Kevin Krebs, founder and managing director at HelloCollege. “Parents and students are nervous about a large investment not paying off.”
Students as Conscientious Objectors to Generative AI: We should listen to them—and treat their objections with respect - Carla Fehr and Jennifer Saul, Inside Higher Ed
When Carla explained the assignment, the first question raised was “What if we don’t want to use GenAI?” At first, she responded that it was part of the assignment and that whether or not they wanted to use generative AI, they should at least know how to use it. If they then chose to reject it, they could do so from a place of knowledge and experience. The class atmosphere became tense as more students pushed back against this required use of generative AI. They wanted to know what their classmates thought rather than what a large language model produced in response to prompting; they wanted to wrestle with difficult readings and complex ideas; they wanted to work together across their human differences to negotiate new ideas and find ways of expressing them. And they didn’t want to outsource any of this effort to generative AI. They wanted to do the work, even the mundane work.
Wednesday, August 5, 2026
From Knowledge Building to Wisdom Building in Higher Education - Ray Schroeder, Inside Higher Ed
In years gone by, we said that students went to college to gather knowledge. Now, college is appropriately expected to be much more about building wisdom. The advent of the internet toward the end of the last century went a long way to stimulate this shift to the emphasis on wisdom. More recently, artificial intelligence has further accelerated the move. Those of us in higher education who still have our focus on knowledge gathering in our classes are a quarter of a century behind the times. Rote memorization of facts is out of date, supplanted by highly refined search and retrieval skills coupled with an ability to apply sophisticated critical and creative thinking to those data. We are at the turning point in higher learning where we must now shift our focus from memorization and recitation of facts to the synthesis and analysis of a much broader virtual “library” of knowledge. From this perspective, we will build wisdom among our students. This new level of learning will provide the platform for graduates and certificate completers to exercise leadership and vision in our society.
New faculty offered opportunities to enhance teaching with technology practices - Penn State University
The New Faculty Discovery Series connects new Penn State faculty with timely, relevant educational technology topics that support teaching and learning. Through conversations and insights from content experts, faculty will explore the tools and resources available across the University. “Embracing Teaching and Learning with Technology for New Faculty to Penn State" provides access to key teaching and learning with technology resources and support for faculty who are early in their careers at Penn State. Faculty will strengthen their knowledge of essential teaching and learning technologies, connect with peers across the commonwealth who also are new to the University, and learn about administrative units that support and provide faculty resources to faculty. Faculty may elect to attend any of the professional development opportunities available through the TLT Provost Endorsement without signing up for the full endorsement.
What Future-Proofing a Course Really Means - Gennadii Miroshnikov, Times Higher Ed
Instead of attempting to predict the future, future-proofing online courses is about making them easier to update, more inclusive and more useful to students, even as context changes. It is future-proof when the design is strong enough to cope with change. Links die. Readings date. Professional standards shift. Platforms change. Students arrive with different expectations, needs and levels of digital confidence. Artificial intelligence has moved from novelty to routine before many course teams agreed what to do about it. Of course, no course team can predict all of this in advance. But teams can design online courses that are easier to update, easier to access and more likely to remain meaningful when the context changes.
Tuesday, August 4, 2026
UNH Announces New Flexible and Affordable College-in-3 Online Degree Programs - College of Professional Studies, University of New Hampshire
For online students, the goal of earning a bachelor’s degree at the University of New Hampshire is now faster and more budget-friendly. The University of New Hampshire College of Professional Studies (CPS) has announced that it will start offering two new online Applied Bachelor of Science (A.B.S.) degree programs specifically designed to help eligible students earn a bachelor’s degree in as little as three years. The online Applied Bachelor of Science in Management and Applied Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Technology degrees are newly designed programs that create opportunities for a broad range of students, including transfer students, working professionals, adult learners, military-affiliated students and community college graduates.
Inside the federal keyword lists that canceled billions in research funding - Laura Spitalniak, Higher Ed Dive
In court documents, the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and others shared which words they used to target grants. Those court documents offer insight into how the Trump administration undertook a swift campaign to revoke research funding for work related to diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and other subjects at odds with its political agenda. Federal agencies relied heavily on keyword searches when terminating grants held by UC researchers, court documents revealed. While the searched terms varied across agencies, they focused on initiatives facing significant conservative opposition, such as DEI and green energy.
How can the public sector meet the AI moment? - McKinsey
Achieving real impact, however, requires more than isolated pilots. Fully realizing AI’s potential demands organizations rewire by redesigning processes, ways of working, and operating models to make the technology part of everyday service delivery. This series explores how leaders can move beyond experimentation and take practical steps to scale AI responsibly, delivering measurable improvements in efficiency, service quality, and the experience of the people they serve. Our ambition is to help the public sector dramatically improve their capacity to deliver for residents by providing leaders with the insights and confidence needed to accelerate that journey.
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