By Andy Thomason. The death of the longtime Supreme Court justice and conservative stalwart Antonin Scalia has widespread ramifications for American politics and policy. For higher education, the most immediately apparent consequence is for Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, the landmark legal challenge to race-conscious admissions that is pending before the court. More...

By Andy Thomason. Colleges are continuing to move away from assessing students’ learning outcomes through standardized tests, according to the results of a new survey. A report on the survey, “Trends in Learning Outcomes Assessment,” by the Association of American Colleges and Universities, says that only 38 percent of institutions use standardized national tests of general knowledge. That’s down from nearly 50 percent in 2008. More...

By Andy Thomason. Stanford University has received its largest cash donation from an individual in its history — $400 million from Philip H. Knight, the Nike co-founder. The gift will be part of a $750-million endowment to establish a “graduate-level scholarship designed to prepare a new generation of global leaders,” according to a statement from the university. More...

By Andrew Mytelka. A federal judge on Tuesday threw out a lawsuit against the NCAA and more than 100 Division I colleges and universities asserting that college athletes should be paid at least the minimum wage, USA Today reported. More...

By Goldie Blumenstyk. In getting more students to complete their degrees, the use of highly structured curricula and proactive advising systems holds more promise than performance pay, free tuition for the first two years of college, or expanding credit for off-campus coursework, according to a survey of higher-education experts. More...

By Kelly Field. Nearly everyone agrees that the federal student-aid system is broken, perhaps irreparably so. The Pell Grant hasn’t kept pace with rising tuition, students are saddled with too much debt, and many states have shifted the burden for financing colleges onto the federal government and families. More...

By Nick DeSantis. The Marvell Technology Group and Marvell Semiconductor Inc. will pay $750 million to end a long-running patent dispute with Carnegie Mellon University, the university announced on Wednesday. More...

By Nick DeSantis. The University of Texas at Austin’s president on Wednesday finalized a task force’s recommendations for carrying out a new campus-carry law that has drawn widespread criticism from faculty members. More...

By Courtney Kueppers. Having an instructor to look up to can be vital to a student. Mentors can help students stay in college, provide them with research opportunities, and serve as lifelong role models. But what happens when students take reverence for teachers too far. More...

By Rio Fernandes. Texas A&M University at College Station is examining allegations that several students yelled racial slurs at a group of touring high-school students this week, reports The Dallas Morning News. More...