In a blog post, Redmond said a cybercrime crew it tracks as Storm-2657 has been targeting university employees since March 2025, hijacking salaries by breaking into HR software such as Workday. The attack is as audacious as it is simple: compromise HR and email accounts, quietly change payroll settings, and redirect pay packets into attacker-controlled bank accounts. Microsoft has dubbed the operation "payroll pirate," a nod to the way crooks plunder staff wages without touching the employer's systems directly.
"However, it's important to note that any SaaS systems storing HR or payment and bank account information could be easily targeted with the same technique," Microsoft researchers said. "These attacks don't represent any vulnerability in the Workday platform or products, but rather financially motivated threat actors using sophisticated social engineering tactics and taking advantage of the complete lack of multifactor authentication (MFA) or lack of phishing-resistant MFA to compromise accounts."
As the Supreme Court begins its new term this week, legal experts predict that higher education will be a frequent subject for the justices. Yet only two college-related cases-both of which center on transgender rights-are currently listed on the main docket. That's in large part because of a less formal but increasingly popular second list of cases known as the shadow docket. Historically, the shadow docket, also called the emergency docket, was used on rare occasions for just that-emergencies.
"Phoenix Education Partners, parent company of the for-profit University of Phoenix, which announced its IPO plans one day before the shutdown began, said on Wednesday that it has priced its shares at $32. That's the midpoint of its earlier targeted range of between $31 and $33 a share. The company intends to list on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the "PXED" ticker symbol. Selling shareholders will offer roughly 4.3 million shares of its common stock,"
The impetus is clear: Texas A&M University fired a professor, demoted two administrators and pushed out its president after conservative politicians lambasted the institution for a lesson on gender identity in a children's literature class. Their criticism hinged on the fact that the topic was not reflected in the brief course catalog description for the class. Before he resigned, Texas A&M president Mark Welsh ordered an audit of all courses at the flagship campus,
Doctors predicted Wayne Frederick, the president of Howard University, wouldn't live past 8. Now he's 54. Frederick came to the U.S. from Trinidad and Tobago with a dream of finding a cure for his disease, sickle cell anemia, but detoured into higher ed administration. At an event hosted by the American Council on Education at Howard University this week, Frederick said CRISPR gene editing, a technology developed in academia, made his dream a reality.
The fee, the complaint states, "will result in significant and potentially catastrophic setbacks to research that benefits the American public and ensures the United States remains a leading source of innovation and expertise. For example, the fee will likely result in sharp cutbacks in the employment of highly talented foreign workers and severe setbacks for university research, graduate programs, and clinical care, compounding an anticipated shortfall of 5.3 million skilled workers over the next decade."
WashU chancellor Andrew Martin announced last month that the private university had cut 316 staff positions and closed another 198 vacant roles as part of an effort to restructure or reduce budgets. He wrote that the cuts, which extend to WashU's Medical Campus, total "more than $52 million in annual savings." The chancellor cited both external and internal pressures.
This year's Banned Books Week (Oct. 5-11) comes at a moment when the threat of censorship is reaching alarming heights. According to a new report issued last week by PEN America, " Banned in the USA, 2024-2025," there were 22,810 instances of book banning in U.S. public schools from 2021 to 2025. As the coordinator of Chicago Banned Books Week, I can see a growing climate of fear where even some librarians are wary of promoting banned books.
For students at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania, alumni mentors are becoming embedded in their experience. A recently launched mentorship program pairs each rising junior with a graduate from the college to provide advice and encouragement as they finish their last two years of college. The initiative, part of Gettysburg's reimagining of career development, helps students build a professional network before they leave college and hopefully eases the transition into life after graduation, said Billy Ferrell, director of external relations in Gettysburg's Center for Career Engagement.
"My whole career has been focused on equity and how higher ed is situated in the democratic experiment, so when I was asked to do the next thing, I felt compelled to do it,"
Keir Starmer has joined a long line of ministers and prime ministers who have called time on Tony Blair's ambition for half of the nation's young people to go on to higher education. Rishi Sunak, Gavin Williamson and now Starmer have all declared an end to Blair's famous 1999 pledge as a policy priority, and done so on the grounds that the focus on universities has come at the expense of vocational education and training such as apprenticeships.
Officials at San Jacinto College, a community college in greater Houston, asked faculty to review student learning outcomes for their courses and ensure they adhere to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board's Academic Course Guide Manual and Workforce Education Course Manual, said Amanda Fenwick, a spokesperson for the college.
The Trump administration may be moving away from using individual investigations to try to force colleges into compliance with the president's agenda and instead encourage compliance by giving institutions that demonstrate adherence to his policies a competitive advantage in obtaining research funding. The new plan, which Post reporters heard about from two anonymous White House officials, would change the grant-application process and give a leg up to institutions that conform to President Donald Trump's agenda regarding admissions, hiring and other campus policies. If the plan takes effect, the Trump administration will no longer have to go after universities one by one through investigations and corresponding penalties, but rather can induce compliance from hundreds of institutions at once.
The Supreme Court's decision in 2023's Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard didn't just signal the end of affirmative action in higher education in the United States; it also launched a thousand lethal torpedoes at diversity and equity programs across the country. This case turbocharged a whole new way of thinking about colorblindness and the Constitution, and its ripple effects have been felt beyond education-in the C-suite, in the military, and more.
"Kirk became one of the most prominent voices in America, engaging in respectful, civil discourse across college campuses, media platforms, and national forums, always seeking to elevate truth, foster understanding, and strengthen the Republic,"
BART spent $6.75 million of taxpayers' money for the mistakes made by the BART police in the mediated prelitigation settlement with Jasmine Gao. It is a tragedy of just actions and how authority is abused. BART issued a notice of intent to terminate Officer Poblete. It was BART police Chief Kevin Franklin who issued a public statement that said Gao "is alleged to have assaulted a police officer." It looks like Poblete's actions had the full support of the police chief.
According to a poll the Vanderbilt Project on Unity and American Democracy published Thursday, 47 percent of 1,030 Americans surveyed said they have "a great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in higher education institutions, with a net positive rating of 33-up 13 percentage points since 2023. Survey respondents reported more confidence in higher education than in the police (44 percent), the medical system (38 percent) and large tech companies (25 percent).
The University of Arizona is quietly shutting down its four microcampuses in China at the end of this semester, in response to a government report released earlier this month that criticizes branch campuses of U.S. institutions in China.
One in three female students say they have endured sexual harassment during their time at university or college, with most of it taking place around campus, according to data published by England's higher education regulator. The results showed that nearly one in five women also experienced sexual assault or violence during their time as a student, often at the hands of other students or staff, with younger women, lesbian, gay or bisexual students and students with disabilities at higher risk.
Many professors in the US south, particularly in Florida, South Carolina and Texas, are considering leaving their state because of the impact the political climate is having on education, according to a new survey by the American Association of Professors. Of those interviewed in the survey, roughly a quarter of respondents said they applied for a job in higher education in another state since the start of 2023.
Cuts to civilian employees this summer threatened Reserve Officer Training Corps programs at dozens of colleges and universities, as well as the academic prospects of students at those institutions. This summer, the Army announced the closure of 10 host programs and nine extension campuses in an effort to realign units and the workforce. The changes were slated to take place at the end of this academic year.
"Together, we believe this transition is necessary to ensure Texas A&M is well positioned for the future, a future that demands bold leadership, continued innovation, and an unwavering commitment to the core values of this university to meet the challenges we face,"
