United States: Education

On August 7, 2025, President Donald Trump issued a Presidential Memorandum titled "Ensuring Transparency in Higher Education Admissions.

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced it will require institutions of higher education to report additional data relating to admissions processes.

The Trump Administration is requiring higher education institutions in receipt of federal funding to report race-based admissions data.

Buried within the more than 800 pages of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act ("OBBB") are several significant provisions affecting institutions of higher education and the broader higher education sector.

Our Mid-Year 2025 report sifts through the volume of federal-level executive activity and judicial decisions to provide perspective on the developments that are setting the tone and will have longer-term impact on employers.

Thompson Coburn's Higher Education Litigation Summary is your resource for legal updates on key rulings and ongoing cases shaping the higher education sector.

On June 6, 2025, Judge Claudia Wilken of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California approved the settlement agreement in House v. NCAA, Oliver v. NCAA and Hubbard v. NCAA.

On June 11, 2025, in a memorandum entitled Civil Division Enforcement Priorities (the "Memo"), the Department of Justice (DOJ) Civil Division outlined its five priority areas for investigations...

The Court held that such claims are subject to the same standards as other disability discrimination claims, expressly rejecting the requirement imposed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit that plaintiffs demonstrate "bad faith or gross misjudgment" by school officials—a heightened standard unique to student disability cases.