An article from This week in 5 numbers: Why the UT System offers microcredentials for free

We’re rounding up recent stories, from a Texas system’s partnership with Coursera to a court ruling blocking major parts of anti-DEI executive orders.

Published Feb. 28, 2025 Natalie Schwartz Senior Editor

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Students study in the Perry-Castañeda Library at the University of Texas at Austin on Feb. 22, 2024, in Austin, Texas. The University of Texas System has partnered with Coursera to offer free microcredentials to students. Brandon Bell via Getty Images

From a look at the University of Texas System’s partnership with an online course provider to a court ruling partially blocking some of President Donald Trump’s recent executive orders, here are the top-line figures from some of our biggest stories of the week.

By the numbers   $1.7 million The amount the University of Texas System has spent so far on to provide Coursera’s Career Academy for free to students across its nine academic campuses and five health institutions. The online learning platform offers some 50 certificate programs from big name companies like Microsoft and Google.   2 The number of executive orders targeting diversity, equity and inclusion efforts that have been partially paused by a court order in response to a lawsuit from the American Association of University Professors and the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education. Among other things, the ruling bars the Trump administration from ending all “equity-related” federal grants.   40 How many higher education institutions are overseen by Florida’s university and college systems. This week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis launched the state’s own version of the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency and directed it to work with education officials to cut “unnecessary spending, programs, courses, staff, and any other inefficiencies.”   12 The number of Penn State University’s commonwealth campuses under review as officials decide which to close amid demographic challenges. Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi said the seven largest commonwealth campuses would be excluded from the review.   7 The additional months colleges now have to submit data to the U.S. Department of Education required by the gainful employment and financial value transparency regulations. The agency pushed back the reporting deadline once again amid concerns that colleges didn’t have enough time to pull together the data. waitToLoadAds.push(function() { googletag.cmd.push(function() { if (window.dfp_visibility == 'mobile' ) { googletag.display('dfp-hybrid1-mobile'); googletag.pubads().addEventListener('slotRenderEnded', function (event) { var adUnitPath = '/21662595662/highereddive/highereddivehybrid1'; var onProformative = false; if (onProformative && event.slot.getAdUnitPath() === adUnitPath && !event.isEmpty ) { var adUnitPathWithVisibility = adUnitPath + '-mobile'; var selector = '.pf-comments__ad-wrapper [data-container-ad-unit-id="' + adUnitPathWithVisibility + '"]'; if (!$(selector).closest('.pf-comments__ad-wrapper').hasClass('borders')) { $(selector).closest('.pf-comments__ad-wrapper').addClass('borders') } } }); } }); }); waitToLoadAds.push(function() { googletag.cmd.push(function() { if (window.dfp_visibility == 'desktop' ) { googletag.display('dfp-hybrid2-desktop'); googletag.pubads().addEventListener('slotRenderEnded', function (event) { var adUnitPath = '/21662595662/highereddive/highereddivehybrid2'; var onProformative = false; if (onProformative && event.slot.getAdUnitPath() === adUnitPath && !event.isEmpty ) { var adUnitPathWithVisibility = adUnitPath + '-desktop'; var selector = '.pf-comments__ad-wrapper [data-container-ad-unit-id="' + adUnitPathWithVisibility + '"]'; if (!$(selector).closest('.pf-comments__ad-wrapper').hasClass('borders')) { $(selector).closest('.pf-comments__ad-wrapper').addClass('borders') } } }); } }); });

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