An article from Week in review: Judge deals major blow to plans to dismantle Education Department

We’re rounding up last week’s news, from an order to reinstate the agency’s fired workers to another Trump administration action against Harvard.

Published May 27, 2025 Natalie Schwartz Senior Editor

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A U.S. Department of Education employee leaves the building with their belonging on March 20, 2025, in Washington, D.C. Win McNamee / Staff via Getty Images Most clicked-on story from last week: 

Over half of hiring managers said new graduates aren’t ready for the workforce, according to a poll from Resume.org. “Colleges don’t teach students how to behave in the workplace,” Irina Pichura, Resume.org’s career coach, said in a statement, adding that recent graduates lack transitional support from universities. 

Number of the week   $37.7 million The fine Grand Canyon University faced that the U.S. Department of Education has now rescinded. The university’s president, Brian Mueller, said the ruling supports that the large Christian institution was “wrongly accused” of misleading doctoral students about the costs of their programs. Trump administration updates: 

• A federal judge dealt a major blow to the Trump administration’s plans to dismantle the Education Department. In a Thursday ruling, U.S. District Judge Myong Joun temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s order to close the department “to the maximum extent possible” and called for the agency to reinstate the more than 2,000 workers it laid off en masse in March. 

• The U.S. Department of Justice signaled that it could soon investigate colleges under the False Claims Act, which allows the federal government to pursue fraud claims against federal funding recipients. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche suggested in a memo that the department could go after colleges over their diversity efforts, policies on transgender athletes and other common Trump administration targets. 

• The Trump administration cut off Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students Thursday, though a federal judge paused the decision a day later. 

• The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services terminated another $60 million of Harvard University’s grants, claiming the Ivy League institution hasn’t done enough to protect students from antisemitism and prevent what it describes as racial discrimination. Harvard recently put up $250 million of its own funding to help sustain research impacted by the recent federal funding cuts and freezes, which top $2.6 billion. 

Colleges prepare for turbulent times: 

• The University System of Maryland’s board of regents unanimously passed a resolution that will allow its 12 institutions to consider furloughs or temporary salary reductions amid budgetary troubles. Maryland’s recently signed budget for fiscal 2026 includes a 7% reduction for the system, a loss of about $155 million. 

• The Massachusetts Institute of Technology plans to enroll fewer graduate students in the upcoming academic year due to anticipated declines in federal grant funding, Bloomberg reported. MIT will have about 100 fewer graduate students, representing an 8% year-over-year decline. 

• The Catholic University of America, a private institution in Washington, D.C., laid off over five dozen staff members — about 7% of its workforce — in response to a $30 million deficit, The Pillar reported. The university is also reducing retirement benefits, offering buyouts to faculty, lowering planned raises and hoping to bring in additional revenue through new academic offerings.

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