Latest
Op-Ed
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June 4, 2026
The Looming Fight Over Intellectual Diversity – Restoring the Academy’s Reason for Being
Last week, the U.S. Department of Education hosted negotiated rulemaking through its Accreditation, Innovation, and Modernization (AIM) Committee. The charge was straightforward and overdue: improve the quality of higher education, respond to a rapidly changing economic and intellectual landscape, expand accountability and transparency for students and taxpayers, and rebuild the value proposition of a college degree.
Op-Ed
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May 20, 2026
Who Governs Public Universities (and Who Should)?
America’s public colleges and universities have lost their way.
Statement
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May 19, 2026
AFPI Applauds Department of Education’s Finalized Workforce Pell Rule
The America First Policy Institute (AFPI) commends the U.S. Department of Education for finalizing the Workforce Pell Grant rule yesterday, a landmark step toward restoring opportunity, dignity, and economic mobility for millions of American workers shut out of the traditional four-year college pipeline.
Expert Insights
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May 18, 2026
Governing Public Universities: How States Can Reassert Authority and Restore Trust
Upon taking office in January 2025, President Trump embarked on an ambitious higher education reform campaign. The urgency of this task was punctuated by the recent wave of antisemitic protests at elite universities. Yet that obscene spectacle was just one manifestation of a larger sickness—a rot eating away at the heart of U.S. institutions of higher education (IHEs).
Statement
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May 11, 2026
New Rules from Ed to Simplify Student Loan Payments & Lower College Costs
AFPI has released the following statement from Dr. Michael A. Shires, vice chair for Education Opportunity, on the U.S. Department of Education’s newly released rules which intend to lower college costs and simplify student loan repayments.
Experts on Post Secondary Education
Erika Donalds
Chair, Education Opportunity
Jay Menees, Ph.D.
Senior Policy Analyst, Higher Education and Economy & Trade Policy
Christopher Schorr, Ph.D.
Director of the Higher Education Reform Initiative
Michael Shires, Ph.D.
Vice Chair of Education Opportunity, Higher Education, and Senior Policy Officer
Jovan Tripkovic
Policy Analyst, Higher Education Reform Initiative
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