HR - Education Industry

On March 21, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee made its preliminary injunction permanent and approved a settlement as it relates to the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) bylaw banning the use of name, image, and likeness (NIL) compensation during the

Related linOn March 20, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order (EO), “ Improving Education Outcomes by Empowering Parents, States, and Communities ,” directing the secretary of education “to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law, take all necessary steps to facilitate t

The federal government recently revoked all grants and contracts with Columbia University, citing “illegal protests” and antisemitism on campus. The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights also sent letters to sixty universities, warning them of potential enforcement actions if they d

On March 11, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education announced that it would initiate a reduction in force (RIF), affecting nearly 50 percent of its workforce. Staff are being placed on administrative leave starting March 21, 2025, with an expectation that the entire workforce will be reduced from 4,

On March 13, 2025, twenty states and the District of Columbia sued the Trump administration to stop its plans to cut the U.S. Department of Education’s workforce by roughly half. The case is in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

On March 5, 2025, the National Education Association (NEA) and its New Hampshire affiliate (NEA-NH) sued the U.S. Department of Education, challenging a recently issued “ Dear Colleague Letter ” (DCL) that informed schools that they would lose federal funding if they continued their diversity, equit

The Department of Education has rolled out guidance on how it plans to enforce President Trump’s recent EOs regarding "unlawful DEI." Although the guidance provides education institutions with some information regarding how to comply, many questions remain unanswered.

After giving educational institutions two weeks to comply with the Department of Education’s Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) , on February 28, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) issued Frequently Asked Questions About Racial Preferences and Stereotypes Under Title VI of the

Since his inauguration, President Trump has issued dozens of executive orders affecting employers, including higher education institutions. These orders have quickly created multiple compliance hurdles.

In the latest slew of executive orders affecting educational institutions, on February 5, 2025, President Trump signed an order titled, “ Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports .” This order states, “it is the policy of the United States to rescind all funds from educational programs that deprive women a

On February 6, 2025, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) announced its new policy, prohibiting athletes assigned male at birth from participating in women’s sports competitions, aligning the NCAA eligibility rules with President Donald Trump’s recent executive order (EO) barring tran

In the two weeks since President Trump took office, he has issued numerous orders, many of which affect educational institutions. The following summarizes the most recent executive orders and directives affecting our education clients. Revised Executive Order 13899 – Combatting Anti-Semitism

At least forty-four states have enacted laws prohibiting hazing. However, the regulations, penalties, and requirements vary significantly by state. The enactment of the federal Stop Campus Hazing Act (SCHA) exemplifies the bipartisan effort aimed at combating hazing and protecting the health and saf

Rolanda Brandon—the mother of sixteen-year-old star quarterback Faizon Brandon, the Greensboro, North Carolina, Grimsley High School football player who has committed to play for the University of Tennessee Volunteers in 2026—recently filed a lawsuit on behalf of her son in Wake County Superior Cour

The Third Circuit in Johnson v. NCAA ruled that athletes at NCAA Division I schools may be considered employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The Johnson decision creates a circuit split that could lead the United States Supreme Court to resolve this issue. Colleges and universities could face

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) will stop enforcing rules restricting Division I athletes from transferring from one institution to another under a consent judgment filed in an antitrust lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), ten states, and the District of Colu

The final regulations amend § 34 C.F.R. 106.1, et seq. According to a statement from the Department announcing the final rule, “The unofficial version of the final regulations is available here. In addition, the Department has released a fact sheet, a summary of the major provisions of the 2024 Titl

On April 17, 2024, the Biden administration published a proposed rule that would amend current regulations to allow for certain student loan debts to be waived, potentially providing relief to millions of student loan borrowers.

A recent National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruling that the men’s college basketball players at Dartmouth College were employees of the school, as well as other legal challenges to establish the employment status of college athletes, could upend the structure of college sports and have unintended

On February 23, 2024, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee issued a preliminary injunction in State of Tennessee and Commonwealth of Virginia v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, enjoining enforcement of the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) Name, Ima