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The Education Department is considering terminating its contracts for thousands of call center employees hired to answer familiesâ questions about federal student aid, and may replace them with an artificial intelligenceâpowered chat bot, The New York Times reported Thursday.
Ten-year average annual returns stood at 6.8% for fiscal 2024,down slightly from last year but still robust enough to make spending with endowment money âpossible and prudent,â NACUBO and Commonfund said in a press release.
The Washington Post reported on Feb. 3 that some DOGE team members had in fact gained access to âmultiple sensitive internal systems,â including federal financial aid data, as part of larger plans to carry out Trumpâs goal to eventually eliminate the Education Department.
As President Donald Trump churned out more than 80 executive orders over the past three weeks, sending the higher education community into a panic, some students were surprised to see a lack of campus protestsâeven at institutions traditionally rife with activism.
âWe wanted to follow the model of the Jesup Wagon [a horse-drawn movable school designed by George Washington Carver in the 1900s] that would take university research-based information out to the communities,â says Terrence Wolfork, assistant administrator for communications, conferencing and technology at FVSU.
On Wednesday, 96 Democratic members of Congress sent a letter to Carter requesting an "urgent" meeting to discuss the Trump administration's plans for what they say is to "illegally dismantle or drastically reduce" the Education Department.
Given the array and complexity of presidential responsibilities, many of which require confidentiality, itâs not surprising that a campus community doesnât know all the ins and outs of how their presidents spend their time and the issues with which they deal.
The effect can be devastating: Research from Gallup-Lumina found nearly two-thirds (64%) of currently enrolled college students who recently considered stopping their studies said emotional stress or mental health concerns were a significant reason.
The decision âsabotages the decades-long partnership that has ensured U.S. global leadership in life-saving medical research,â American Council on Education President Ted Mitchell said in a statement on Friday.
Tracey Vitchers, executive director of Itâs On Us, a nonprofit dedicated to sexual assault prevention, echoed Bederaâs last point, noting that the Title IX landscape has become increasingly litigious in recent years, making colleges hesitant to share case findings.
Panel witness Johnny Taylor, Jr., president and CEO of the Society for Human Resource Management, said WIOA reauthorization would create a "generational opportunity" to find solutions to workforce gaps.
And the executive order directs private sporting bodies to convene at the White House to hear âstories of female athletes who suffer life-long injuries, who have been silenced and forced to shower with men, and whose hard work has been cast aside due to the biological advantage of males,â the fact sheet said.