Education Dept. seeks public college pledges to overhaul higher education

The Education Department is urging U.S. colleges to publicly commit to a set of reforms—tackling grade inflation, increasing cost transparency, curbing foreign donations, and ensuring faculty diversity—by the end of 2026. The push echoes last fall’s college compact, which MIT rejected; the latest letter is less restrictive and does not include caps on international students, a tuition freeze, or funding incentives, and it requires schools to post their statements prominently on their websites.