Higher Education & Research

GRINNELL, Iowa – November 10, 2026 -- Grinnell College will meet 100% of demonstrated financial need for first-generation scholars admitted through a new partnership with College Track, which becomes the nonprofit's 24th college and university partnership. The first cohort enrolls in fall 2028.

College Track makes a 10-year commitment to each scholar, from ninth grade through college graduation. The partnership extends the organization's network across 13 communities nationwide. Scholars come from California, Colorado, Louisiana and the D.C.-Maryland area.

Grinnell commits to full need-based aid up to cost of attendance

Grinnell may admit a cohort of College Track scholars each year, subject to admissibility. It will meet each admitted scholar's demonstrated financial need up to the full cost of attendance, through need-based and merit-based programs.

NEW YORK – November 06, 2026 -- Three women whose sentences President Trump recently commuted had their applications guided by the Hassan & Nazie Nemazee Clemency Fellowship at the University of Minnesota Law School, according to Pasha Publishing.

Fellowship provided legal guidance to Bloom, Frantzen and Williams

Molly Ann Bloom, Holly Leanne Frantzen and Shemika Williams were included in the president's latest round of clemencies, pardons and commutations. The Nemazee Fellowship, which sits within the law school's Clemency Clinic, provided legal and support services on their applications. The institute will continue to advise applicants.

Florham Park – November 06, 2026 -- The New York Jets and the Betty Wold Johnson Foundation are expanding the Jets ECAC Women's Flag Football League from 15 schools in 2026 to 29 schools in 2027, backed by a new $500,000 commitment from the Foundation.

Foundation lifts total league funding to $1.5 million

The new grant follows the Foundation's $1 million founding grant in 2025. Its total support for the league now stands at $1.5 million.

ECAC Commissioner Dan Coonan said the expansion will let twice as many programs and young women compete. "The talent and desire has always been there," he said, adding that athletes lacked only the opportunity. He said the conference is preparing for Year Two of the league.

Chapel Hill – November 06, 2026 -- The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill scored 9.2 out of 10 in the 2026 AIREDEX AI Readiness Index. That places it sixth among public universities, first in North Carolina and tied for 11th nationally.

Carolina earns A+ grades for AI curriculum and research

The independent index uses publicly available information to evaluate universities in four areas: institutional commitment, curriculum, partnerships and research. Carolina received A+ grades for both its AI curriculum and its research.

The assessment highlights undergraduate opportunities in AI education and research, access to emerging technologies and university-wide efforts to guide the responsible use of AI.

Hong Kong – September 08, 2026 -- The Yidan Prize Foundation named its 2026 laureates on the tenth anniversary of the award, granting HK$30 million (approximately US$3.8 million) each to Professor Paul W. Glewwe and a three-member team behind the Reach Up early childhood program.

Independent jury awards two prizes worth HK$60 million combined

The judging panel, chaired by OECD education and skills director Andreas Schleicher, selected Paul W. Glewwe for the Yidan Prize for Education Research and Professor Susan P. Walker, Professor Sally Grantham-McGregor and Dr Susan M. Chang-Lopez jointly for the Yidan Prize for Education Development. Each award comprises a HK$15 million cash prize and a HK$15 million unrestricted project fund. Since 2017 the foundation has distributed HK$600 million (approximately US$77 million) to 25 laureates working across nearly 60 countries and regions.

Winter Park, Fla. -- September 18, 2026 -- Full Sail University reported that 124 of its graduates were credited on 52 winning projects across 85 categories at the 78th annual Primetime Emmy Awards, with three alumni also winning individual Emmys for their own work.

Judah Getz claims three Emmys for ADR mixing across three different series

Judah Getz won Outstanding Sound Mixing awards in three separate categories for his work as ADR Mixer on "Pluribus" (comedy or drama series, one hour), "Beef" (limited or anthology series or movie), and "Widow's Bay" (comedy or drama series half-hour and animation).

Sound editing honors go to Jerry Lafuente and Andy Sisul

Jerry Lafuente won Outstanding Sound Editing for a Limited or Anthology Series, Movie or Special as Sound Effects Editor on "Beef." Andy Sisul won Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One Hour) as Co-Supervising Sound Editor/Sound Designer on "Spider-Noir."

Phoenix – September 18, 2026 -- Ninety-eight percent of managers who directly supervise University of Phoenix graduates report overall satisfaction with those employees, and 97% say they would likely hire another University of Phoenix graduate in the future, according to new research from The Harris Poll commissioned by the university.

Harris Poll surveys 408 U.S. managers to benchmark employer experience

The Harris Poll conducted an online survey from June 4-25, 2026, among 204 U.S. managers supervising at least one University of Phoenix graduate and 204 managers supervising graduates from other colleges and universities. Of 1,796 individuals contacted, 96% met screening requirements (n=1,728), and 24% of the qualified sample completed the survey. Results carry a Bayesian credible interval of ±8.6 percentage points for the University of Phoenix group and ±8.0 percentage points for the benchmark group at a 95% confidence level.

Allentown, Pennsylvania – September 18, 2026 -- Women in Science Demonstrating Outstanding Merits (WISDOM) will convene its third annual Connecting Our Talents: Women in STEM event on Oct. 8, 2026, at Lehigh University's Iacocca Conference Center, running from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Event pairs Lehigh Valley students with industry professionals to address AI's growing role in STEM careers

The gathering will bring together college students from across the Lehigh Valley with STEM industry professionals for networking and project showcases. A new format element this year requires each student presenter to spend one minute explaining how they incorporated artificial intelligence into their work, or explaining why they did not.

Phoenix – September 17, 2026 -- University of Phoenix's College of Doctoral Studies will convene its 13th annual Knowledge Without Boundaries Summit on October 22-23, 2026, a fully online research conference featuring more than 90 research and scholarship presentations across disciplines.

Summit centers on research amid uncertainty and disruption

Co-sponsored by the Research and Scholarship Enterprise (RSE) and the College of Doctoral Studies, the event is themed "Research as Sense-Making in Times of Uncertainty" and titled "Exploring Scholarship, Society and Change." The interdisciplinary program addresses research practices during crisis and transition, methodological innovation amid data ambiguity, research ethics in high-stakes environments, and digital methods including artificial intelligence and algorithmic sense-making.

New York – September 17, 2026 -- Scholarship America has distributed $193 million to 3,877 students through the Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund over the 25 years since the fund's creation in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks.

Fund draws support from more than 20,000 donors including Citi and Strada Education Foundation

Scholarship America helped establish the fund in the direct aftermath of the 2001 attacks and has administered it continuously since, targeting children who lost a parent or whose parent became permanently disabled as a result of the attacks and subsequent recovery efforts. More than 20,000 individuals, corporations, foundations, and organizations have contributed to the fund, with Citi and Strada Education Foundation named as longtime supporters.