Liam Knox

Read my latest on surging student loan bills and the borrowers making hard sacrifices to keep up:

Millions of student loan bills ballooned this year, sometimes doubling or tripling, after a Republican overhaul of repayment plans. Ahead of pivotal midterms focused on rising costs, some voters say student debt is an unsung affordability issue. www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

Scoop: The DOJ is scrutinizing elite public high school admissions for racial discrimination, including at Stuyvesant and Bronx Science in NYC, expanding the Trump admin’s education pressure campaign beyond higher ed. Free link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Exclusive: The Justice Department is investigating scholarships and financial aid at the College of William & Mary for racial discrimination. Many of the programs were established to combat the legacy of slavery at one of the oldest schools in the US. Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Student debt is surging and default rates are at record highs. As midterms dominated by affordability issues approach, we want to know: how is student debt is affecting your life--and your vote? Tell your story by filling out our survey: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Scoop: The Trump administration is sending a letter to college presidents asking them to pledge a series of policy changes by the end of the year. Unlike last year's Compact, this effort was devised with input from higher ed leaders. Free link to my exclusive: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Do you have student debt? How is it affecting your finances -- and your vote? As default rates reach a historic high ahead of the midterms, we want to hear from you for a story on student loans and affordability. Learn more and fill out our brief survey here: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

The number of international graduate students in the US plummeted in 2025 by 12% from a year earlier, & recent data suggests a similar — or even steeper — drop coming this fall. Great story on how Trump is impacting grad schools by @liamknox.bsky.social(gift link): www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...

Years of rapid growth made grad schools a pillar of the modern university business model Now visa restrictions, loan limits and research cuts under Trump are threatening that model — and the colleges that depend on it www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...

My first piece for Markets Magazine looks at new federal loan limits for grad students, how corporate lenders are gearing up to fill the gap--and the cos impact for low-income students. One borrower would "rather run into traffic" than turn to the private market. www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

President Trump’s administration appears to be retooling its aggressive campaign to reshape elite universities, bringing lawsuits into a fight that it has primarily waged with funding freezes and executive action.

Donald Trump is dismantling the Education Department piece by piece. Since taking office they've laid off 40% of its staff and moved billions in grant programs to other agencies. We dug into the numbers and the impact of the White House's plan: www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...

NEW: Trump is pausing plans to garnish the wages of millions of student loan borrowers in default, less than a month after announcing the effort. The about-face comes amid a broader affordability push from the White House ahead of this year's crucial midterms. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

The Trump admin will start garnishing wages for student loan borrowers in default next year, sending the first 1,000 notices the week of January 7. More than 5 million borrowers are in default on their student loans, and that number could balloon next year. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Colleges were once a bulwark of skepticism about AI's role in education. Now they're a growing customer base for OpenAI, according to documents we obtained, and the company is making a push for more deals. How did higher ed learn to stop worrying and love ChatGPT? www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Three days after a tragic shooting killed two students at Brown University, the attacker remains at large. Security footage is scarce, a vexing challenge for a campus with more than 800 cameras. As Brown closes down early, anxiety and frustration is mounting: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Excited to share my first weekend essay for @bloomberg.com! I wrote about Trump's college funding compact, the schools he saw as potential allies in his campus reform crusade, and why its getting harder and harder for universities to stay out of politics: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

NEW FOIA Files newsletter is out! ‘This is Not a Drill.’ How the Peace Corps Prepared for a DOGE Visit The agency spent two months running through training exercises leading up to DOGE’s arrival in April, according to emails I obtained via #FOIA www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...

Dartmouth rejected the White House’s funding compact this morning, a day after meeting with administration officials to discuss the deal. They’re the sixth college to decline in the past week. president.dartmouth.edu/news/2025/10...

The University of Southern California declined the Trump administrations preferential college funding compact, hours after Penn did the same. USC is the fourth of nine formally invited schools to reject the White House’s deal.

One billionaire has waged a five-year campaign to force Credit Suisse and later UBS to examine the mishandling of Holocaust victims’ money — and that quest is nearing completion. Read The Big Take ⬇️

NEW: Federal officials pressuring Harvard University over allegations of mishandling antisemitism on campus considered an unprecedented tactic to force compliance: placing a lien on school property. -- with @janetlorin.bsky.social www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

DeSantis Announces Launch of New Accreditor Florida governor announced the state is launching its own accrediting body. Other states involved in the effort are Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. #HigherEd #EDUSky #AcademicSky bit.ly/4k8PL8s

Only about 12 percent of nondegree credentials offered graduates significant wage gains of 10 percent or more that they wouldn’t have gotten otherwise compared to similar workers. www.insidehighered.com/news/tech-in...

Workforce Pell, which both houses of Congress support, would allow students enrolled in short-term credential programs to receive the federal aid grants. That could spur unaccredited providers to seek a piece of the burgeoning credentials market. @liamknox.bsky.social reports: tinyurl.com/un455zu9

Congress Opens the Credential Floodgates Lawmakers are poised to extend Pell eligibility to short-term credential programs. With few guardrails in place, it could incentivize an explosion in unaccredited and for-profit providers. #HigherEd #EDUSky #AcademicSky bit.ly/4jOZctB

Could congress' proposed workforce Pell provision unlock the floodgates to thousands of unaccredited non-degree awarding providers? @liamknox.bsky.social reports www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...

Why did the Fulbright foreign scholars' board members resign en masse? @liamknox.bsky.social has the inside story: www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...

So much is happening and the Senate is looking to pass its version of the One Big Beautiful Bill in two weeks. Here's @jessicablake.bsky.social on what to expect as we await the draft of the Senate bill. www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...

Apropos of nothing, but here's my story from October on accreditation. www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...

After Delays and Public Blowback, Chapel Hill Board Votes Outside Meeting to Award Tenure After faculty raised alarm over the board’s delay on the decisions, trustees finally debated and voted by email. A couple of them said they generally opposed... #HigherEd #EDUSky #AcademicSky bit.ly/3FGjAPG

I’ll be on @the1a.org at 10 ET tomorrow to talk all things international students — how they’re navigating the current moment and what’s changed about the Trump admins approach to revoking visas and curtailing international enrollment. Tune in here: www.npr.org/podcasts/510...

Community colleges say 400k students could lose their Pell Grant under House Republican’s proposal changes to the program. Here’s why. www.insidehighered.com/news/institu...

ICYMI: @liamknox.bsky.social on the Trump admin & international students: www.wnyc.org/story/the-la...

I’ll be on the Brian Lehrer Show at 9 ET this morning to talk about my reporting on the Fulbright and the Trump administration’s revival of its campaign against international students. Tune in: www.wnyc.org/shows/bl

The Trump administration has taken its fight against DEI to the Fulbright program, intervening in the selection process to disqualify applicants whose projects focus on race, gender or climate change. Great reporting by @liamknox.bsky.social. www.insidehighered.com/news/global/...

NEW: ICE sent emails to dozens of international graduates on OPT threatening deportation unless they provide proof of employment in 15 days. The scope of the crackdown is unclear, but one advisor told me 28 students from one college got the same letter. www.insidehighered.com/news/global/...

New: The Department of Education appears to be denying the majority of requests from states to unfreeze tens of millions of pandemic relief dollars for K-12 school projects and programs that were already underway. www.edweek.org/policy-polit...

Given the current anti-DEI climate, universities in many red states have canceled affinity graduation celebrations for underrepresented groups on campus. But students are carrying on the tradition themselves, as Johanna Alonso reports: www.insidehighered.com/news/student...

Colleges may be reluctant to push back publicly on the Trump administration, but they are quietly spending a boatload on lobbying efforts in Washington. @byjoshmoody.bsky.social examined the data to find out just how much: www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...