Running List of Universities Significantly Impacted by Government & Trustee Actions

College Search & Lists
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State governments and university boards of trustees are increasingly taking actions that can have significant impacts on the universities under their control. Many students and families may want to be aware of what those actions are when determining which college(s) to apply to and/or attend.

This thread is designed to be a running list of universities whose states/boards have taken actions that are likely to significantly impact the university’s community (be that faculty, staff, or students). It is designed to be informative only. Please do not include commentary about the actions, as whether one supports or opposes the actions may be more appropriate in the political forum.

This initial post will be editable by others so that the first post will have a running list of impacted universities, and posts in the thread will share more detailed factual information about the actions.

When adding impacted universities, please use the following format, placing additions in alphabetical order:

State abbreviation, College, Link to Post

Appreciate everyone’s assistance in making this a great resource!

Running List

AL, Auburn University, Post #2
CO, United States Air Force Academy, Post #7
FL, all public colleges,post # 9
IN, Purdue, IU, Post #6
MD, United States Naval Academy, Post #7
NC, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Post #4
NC, University of North Carolina, Post #12
NC, all public colleges and universities, Post #14
NY, United States Military Academy, Post #7
OH, Antioch College, Oberlin College, Wright State University, Post #5
TX, Texas Tech University, Post #4
VA, University of Virginia, Post #8

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Auburn Board Dissolves Faculty Senate, Controlling Curriculum
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Auburn University has eliminated its Faculty Senate and now has complete control over the curriculum, a change from having the curriculum of a given class determined by faculty.

Below is an excerpt from the source on this change:

The Auburn University Board of Trustees on Friday gave itself complete control over course offerings, curriculum, degree requirements and academic credentials while eliminating shared governance at the Alabama land-grant university. Faculty say they have serious concerns about the policies and a host of unanswered questions about what the changes will mean in practice.

The two policies, passed unanimously without discussion, mimic what Alabama House Bill 580 will require of other public institutions when it takes effect in October. As a land-grant institution created and governed by the state Constitution, Auburn isn’t explicitly bound by the law, but lawmakers have made veiled threats to punish noncompliance anyway by withholding state funding for offending institutions. The university appears to be taking a page out of Texas public institutions’ playbook by pre-emptively overcomplying with new state law, experts say.

Effective Friday, the existing Faculty Senate is dissolved.

Source:

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Private as well as public colleges and universities may be affected by newly enacted state laws.

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"In 2025, the state legislature added higher-education requirements to the state budget bill. The legislation, House Enrolled Act 1001, institutes faculty reviews for productivity, requires professors to post their course syllabi online, eliminates degrees with low enrollment, and stipulates that faculty governance is “advisory” only. It also gave the governor power to appoint all nine members of the Indiana University Board of Trustees.

Indiana lawmakers passed more higher-ed provisions in 2026, including restrictions on degree programs whose graduates earn low wages; a requirement that colleges accept results from the Classic Learning Test, a conservative alternative to the SAT and ACT that includes a greater emphasis on Christian thought; and limits on enrolling international students from certain countries."

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University of Virginia has not yet rolled back changes from the previous administration, although the Board of Visitors has been changed. It remains to be seen what the actual policy impact will be.

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Florida Lawmakers Aim to Give Statewide Boards Power to Amend Gen Ed

The state Board of Governors and Board of Education already banned sociology from public institutions’ core course offerings. Legislation awaiting the governor’s signature would increase their authority to further change core curricula.

The Florida Board of Governors voted to remove hundreds of classes, many touching on race and gender, from general education offerings at all 12 state universities.

There are a number more articles but I’m not sure if they cross the line into political commentary.

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Please note that the moderating team was consulted before this thread was created.

As noted in the first post: “It is designed to be informative only. Please do not include commentary about the actions, as whether one supports or opposes the actions may be more appropriate in the political forum.”

As no one has including commentary, this thread is fine in the general forum.

If people would like to post political commentary, they are free to start a thread in the Political Forum.

TIA!

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Not sure if this rises to the level of institutional change, but worth noting. Pride-themed posts from UNCCH and UNCG were removed from social media. According to a university spokesperson, the post at UNC (which said “All are Welcome Here” and had rainbow colors on it) violated the UNC system’s equality policy.

https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/education/article316009998.html

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Sorry to add a new NC post, but last week our legislature passed (over the Governor’s veto) a ban on “DEI” in public schools, including our colleges and universities. North Carolina bans DEI in public schools after veto override - EdNC

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University of Denver had combined some programs/departments and closed others.

https://www.9news.com/article/news/education/university-of-denver-combine-programs-new-academic-structure/73-25e804a4-bfc4-4d49-b41a-d7bb7124f011

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But are the University of Denver changes the result of government laws and policies?

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i thought this thread was also about actions taken by the boards/trustees? If it is not, then remove my post. It was taken by the administration at DU. The professors are not happy. The students are not happy.

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From the OP (emphasis added):

And though I didn’t originally envision this turn in the thread, this may be a more appropriate venue for information-sharing on the elimination of departments and programs than the We will miss you..: College closings, mergers, risks of closing thread, particularly when there are significant changes, but the university is not at risk of closing or merging with another.

ETA:

Please add this info to the first message!

ETA2: Unless people think that there should be a separate thread for university restructuring and elimination of departments/majors? If so, feel free to start that thread and perhaps the mods will link it. Otherwise, I’m good with announcement-sharing here.

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I’m not sure if this is appropriate for this particular thread and don’t want to get into too many details for fear of being told it’s political, but a recent court ruling in Florida could potentially mitigate some of the issues with publics noted above. I am not sure it will offset things like curriculum changes which were mentioned earlier, but a reminder that things are fluid.

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Do you have a link to an article to share on the issue @SJ2727?

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