“The number of students admitted to Ph.D. programs this fall dropped 15 percent from the previous year, according to data from over 50 top research universities, raising fears that the nation’s capacity to produce new science could be diminished,” the New York Times reports.

“The decline is driven, in part, by a chaotic and unpredictable federal funding environment under the Trump administration, as federal cuts are promised and then reversed, and budgets remain unclear.”

“The University of California, Berkeley plans to launch a new institute named for Nancy Pelosi and intended to strengthen democracy,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Called the Nancy Pelosi Institute for Representative Democracy, it will be a nonpartisan center for research, teaching and civic engagement, the school said. Berkeley has raised $35 million toward a $50 million goal for the institute, with Pelosi donating an undisclosed amount.”

“Borrowers face substantial changes to student loans beginning next month, including fewer repayment options under President Trump’s tax-and-spending law and the final death blow for the dismantled SAVE plan,” Axios reports.

“Why it matters: Millions of borrowers must pick a new repayment plan, and some will face tighter borrowing caps and higher repayments.”

New York Times: “Of the more than 70 investigations into transgender school policies that the Education Department has announced since last year, about one-fourth have been based on complaints from nonprofit groups with ties to the Trump administration. Many of the investigations have been aimed at blocking transgender women from playing on female sports teams.”

“If federal investigators determine that schools have broken civil rights laws, educators face a choice. They can adopt the Trump administration’s policy prescriptions on gender and diversity, or fight the findings and risk losing federal funding.”

“The Department of Education is moving its office for civil rights and administration of special education to other agencies, according to senior officials, part of President Donald Trump’s efforts to dismantle the department,” Bloomberg reports.

“Oversight of civil rights in schools will move to the Department of Justice and special education programs will move to the Department of Health and Human Services.”

ABC News: Department of Education taking major step in dismantling itself.

Yoni Appelbaum: “Unable to agree on how to interpret the American story, the country’s schools, universities, and political institutions have stopped trying to tell it at all.”

Jordan Heller: “Fearful of being labeled antisemitic, the University of Pennsylvania has acquiesced to the demands of a punitive Trump administration and vindictive donors—and it’s chilling speech both inside and outside the classroom.”

New York Times: “Rahm Emanuel, the former Chicago mayor who is considering a Democratic campaign for president, will outline on Tuesday his plan to make higher education more affordable and accessible, part of what he calls a ‘grand bargain’ between universities, the federal government and American families.”

“Mr. Emanuel’s proposal, which he is scheduled to unveil during an event at Dartmouth College, would reward universities that provide a clear path to earn a four-year degree in three years, offer free tuition to students from households earning less than $200,000 per year and cap tuition increases for everyone else at the rate of inflation.”

New York Times: “Almost everywhere in America, students are performing worse than their peers were 10 years ago, according to new, district-level test score data released Wednesday by the Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford.”

“Compared with a decade earlier, reading scores were down last year in 83 percent of school districts where data was available. Math scores were down in 70 percent. The declines have affected both rich and poor districts, and crossed racial and geographic divides.”

New York Times: “The Education Department has opened a civil rights investigation into whether Smith College, the women’s school in Northampton, Mass., violated anti-discrimination laws by allowing transgender students to enroll.”

New York Times: “The Education Department said on Thursday that new caps on federal loans for graduate school would take effect on July 1, a move aimed at cutting the cost of postsecondary education.”

“The loans will be limited to $20,500 per year and $100,000 in total, while loans for professional students, including those seeking medical or law degrees, will face annual caps of $50,000 and a lifetime limit of $200,000.”