Hosts Jon Fansmith, Sarah Spreitzer, and Mushtaq Gunja dig into the Senate’s reconciliation bill and what it means for colleges and students—student loan limits, endowment taxes, accountability rules, and more. They also discuss delays in student visa processing, stalled federal research funding, and a growing number of legal and policy challenges to programs serving undocumented and international students.
Here are some of the links and references from this week’s show.
Reconciliation
Advocate for Students and Campuses in the 2025 Budget Reconciliation Bill
ACE
Senate 2025 Education Budget Reconciliation Bill
ACE | June 12, 2025
Senate Finance Reconciliation Tax Package: Summary of Key Higher Ed Provisions
ACE | June 17, 2025
A Running List of Policies Rejected From the Republican Megabill
The New York Times (sub. req.) | June 26, 2025
Risk-Sharing: A ‘Well-Intentioned’ Disaster for Colleges?
Higher Ed Dive | May 6, 2025
Rescission
White House Eyes Rarely Used Power to Override Congress on Spending
The New York Times (sub. req.) | June 17, 2025
International Students
State Dept. Restarts Student Visa Interviews With Tougher Social Media Rules
The Washington Post (sub. req.) | June 18, 2025
Legal Developments
Judge Orders NIH to Restore Research Funds Terminated Using Political, Not Scientific Criteria
WBUR | June 17, 2025
Judge Blocks the Trump Administration’s National Science Foundation Research Funding Cuts
The Associated Press | June 21, 2025
US Judge Blocks Defense Department From Slashing Federal Research Funding
Reuters | June 17, 2025
Federal Judge Won’t Block Trump’s Cuts to IES
Inside Higher Ed | June 18, 2025
U.S. Justice Department Sues Minnesota for Offering In-State Tuition Costs to Undocumented Students
The Minnesota Star Tribune (sub. req.) | June 25, 2025
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.