The total number of colleges that U.S. Department of Education regulators are more closely monitoring because of concerns about their ability to handle federal funds ticked downward slightly last month, recently released data show. Read more...

Andrea Smith, a professor at the University of California at Riverside who has been a major figure in Native American studies, has responded to charges that she has falsely told people that she is a member of the Cherokee nation. Read more...

The Obama administration has expressed a slew of concerns about the Senate's version of the 2016 spending bill for the Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, and Labor, including that it would redirect funds away from the Pell Grant program and block enforcement of the administration's gainful employment rules. Read more...

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded the credit rating of Laureate Education, a for-profit chain with a large global footprint. The credit ratings agency also downgraded Laureate last year. Read more...

Three higher education groups that have been strong supporters of the Common Core State Standards Initiative are this morning releasing a joint statement that calls for states to stick to efforts to promote standards. Read more...

Twelve Native American women who are scholars of Native American studies have issued an open letter on Andrea Smith, a professor at the University of California at Riverside who is widely viewed as having falsely claimed for years to be Cherokee. (She is not current responding to questions about the matter). The letter, published in Indian Country Today, says that the discussions about Smith have caused a range of reactions, and that many worry about damage the field. Read more...

An article in The Los Angeles Times explores how the California State University System won an additional $97 million from the state this year. Read more...

The social sciences department at the University of Buenos Aires is being criticized for hosting a live sex performance with actors, the Associated Press reported. Read more...