Monthly Archives: March 2019
The President’s Executive Order on Free Inquiry, Institutional Transparency and Accountability
On March 21, 2019, President Trump signed an Executive Order entitled “Improving Free Inquiry, Transparency, and Accountability at Colleges and Universities.” The Executive Order seeks to promote First Amendment rights, improve transparency relating to financial aid information, and address student loan debt in higher education. Free Inquiry: Specifically, the Executive […]
Liberal Arts Colleges’ Student Admission Files Hacked
On Thursday March 7, the same week that The Wall Street Journal reported on Chinese hackers targeting universities in order to obtain access to classified military technology, Inside Higher Ed reported that applicants at three liberal arts colleges had received anonymous notes offering them the chance to buy their complete […]
Universities Targeted by Chinese Hackers for Military Technology
On Tuesday, March 4, The Wall Street Journal reported that more than two dozen universities in the U.S., Canada and Southeast Asia had been targeted by Chinese hackers. In its report, The Wall Street Journal cited research from iDefense, a cybersecurity intelligence unit of Accenture Security, indicating that the University of […]
New FERPA Guidance on Permitted Disclosures Necessary to Protect Health or Safety
By Sheila Sokolowski and Linh Nguyen The U.S. Department of Education through the Privacy Technical Assistance Center (“PTAC”)—an online resource on data privacy, confidentiality, and security practices for education stakeholders—recently issued a set of frequently asked questions (“FAQs”) on the requirements of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”) […]
President Trump Proposes Fiscal Year 2020 Budget
On Monday afternoon, the Trump Administration released its proposal for the federal budget. Specific to the U.S. Department of Education, the fiscal 2020 budget decreases funding by about $8.5 billion while maintaining level funding for the Office for Civil Rights. Details of the full budget request are available here. In […]