EdTech news, week of October 26, 2026

Machine summary The University of Providence, a Catholic nonprofit in Great Falls, Montana, said it will close at the end of the 2026-27 academic year, citing years of enrollment decline and financial pressure. Federal data cited in the coverage show its fall headcount fell 23.5% to 763 students between 2019 and 2024, and an annual subsidy of about $8 million from an affiliated health system was set to end after 2027.

Reported by Montana Free Press, NBC Montana, Daily Montanan, Montana Standard and highereddive.com.

• K-12 Dive
• University of Providence
• Montana Free Press

Full coverage: every report, when each was published, and who was named (5 outlets)

Machine summary Case management and mental health services move to the EMBRACE Initiative in the provost's office, while the university plans to contract a nonprofit for victims' legal assistance.

1. The executive director of the ROAR Center said to the Record that its Victims of Crime Act funding dropped by one third during this fiscal year.
2. Case management and mental health services continue through the EMBRACE Initiative, housed in the UMB provost's office; the reports state EMBRACE will not offer legal assistance to victims.
3. A UMB spokesperson told the Record the university plans to contract with a nonprofit to continue the legal work; the reports name no organization and give no contract date.

Reported by Maryland Daily Record and Inside Higher Ed.

• University of Maryland, Baltimore
• ROAR Center
• EMBRACE Initiative
• The Daily Record (Maryland)
• Victims of Crime Act

Machine summary The "University as a Connector" report from StudyPortals and Nous Group calls for universities in the U.K., U.S., Canada and Australia to embed AI across disciplines from marketing to health instead of treating it as a narrow specialism. The report finds the U.S. and the U.K. lead on AI-related programs outside computing, while a survey cited by Inside Higher Ed found some U.K. students felt taught "little or nothing" about the technology.

1. The "University as a Connector" report by StudyPortals and Nous Group finds employer demand for business and engineering graduates exceeds student interest in those degrees in the U.K., U.S., Canada and Australia, according to Inside Higher Ed and Times Higher Education.
2. In the U.K., employer need for education workers is larger than student interest in the field, a gap the report says widened between 2022 and 2025.
3. The report identifies "oversupply pressure" in the U.K. in biological sciences, IT and physical sciences, where student interest outstrips available roles.
4. The report calls for universities to embed AI across disciplines from marketing to health rather than treat it as a narrow technological specialization, stating AI can "change skills within disciplines."
5. The U.S. and the U.K. are leading on AI-related programs outside computing, the report finds, despite a cited survey in which some U.K. students said they were taught "little or nothing" about the technology.

Reported by Times Higher Education and Inside Higher Ed.

• University as a Connector
• StudyPortals
• Nous Group

Machine summary Preliminary National Student Clearinghouse Research Center data for fall 2026 shows undergraduate enrollment up 0.6% year over year, down from 2.4% growth a year earlier, while graduate enrollment fell 1.6% and master's enrollment dropped 3.7%.

1. Community colleges posted a 1.2% year-over-year undergraduate increase this fall, after a 3.5% rise the previous fall, according to the clearinghouse data.
2. Graduate enrollment fell 1.6% overall, with master's enrollment down 3.7% following a 0.4% decline in fall 2025 versus 2024.
3. Undergraduate computer science enrollment in four-degree programs dropped 12.4% year over year this fall, the largest subject-area loss in the clearinghouse's data, according to the report.
4. Federal Reserve Bank of New York figures cited in the report put 2024 unemployment among recent computer science and computer engineering graduates at 7% and 7.8%, roughly 3 percentage points above the overall rate that year.
5. Enrollment at public and private four-year colleges stayed roughly flat across credential programs, selectivity categories and institution locales, according to the clearinghouse's senior research director, Matthew Holsapple.

Reported by Higher Ed Dive.

• Federal Reserve Bank of New York
• Community colleges
• National Student Clearinghouse Research Center

Machine summary A federal judge on October 26, 2026 denied PowerSchool's motion for partial judgment, allowing a claim under California's Confidentiality of Medical Information Act to proceed in litigation stemming from a 2024 breach that plaintiffs allege affected nearly 50 million K–12 students and teachers. The court ruled only that the allegations were sufficient for the claim to continue and did not decide whether the company's handling of the data violated the law.

1. A federal judge denied PowerSchool's motion for partial judgment on October 26, 2026, allowing a California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act claim to proceed, per the court's order in No. 25-md-03149-AJB-MSB (S.D. Cal.).
2. Plaintiffs allege the 2024 PowerSchool data breach affected nearly 50 million K–12 students and teachers, according to the litigation.
3. According to the plaintiffs, PowerSchool stored medical data about students, such as diagnoses, medications and allergies, and gave school staff and health-care providers access to it.
4. According to the report's account of the statute, a business keeping medical data in order to manage health information or to support diagnosis and treatment may fall within how the CMIA defines a health-care provider.
5. A recent California Supreme Court ruling, one that dealt with educational screening and involved a different education-technology company, was set apart by the judge from claims that medical data had been shared for health-care purposes.

Reported by The National Law Review and National Law Review.

• California Supreme Court
• PowerSchool
• Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA)

Machine summary The University of Oregon has put forward a plan to eliminate 18 graduate-level academic programs, mostly in liberal arts fields, and consolidate departments as part of an effort to close a projected $65 million structural deficit. Affected programs would stop enrolling new students in fall 2027, with the average master's program completing its teach-out by spring 2028.

1. The proposal targets a projected $65 million structural deficit at the University of Oregon, according to the plan presented by President Karl Scholz
2. It would cut more than 100 staff positions, of which only about one-third are currently vacant, and eliminate 18 graduate-level academic programs
3. Scholz said average reductions across academic and administrative units are now put at 7.25%, down from a 10% figure forecast over the summer
4. The plan identifies about $17.6 million in administrative services savings and roughly $25.8 million in reduced academic costs
5. Affected programs would stop taking new students in fall 2027, with the average master's program finishing its teach-out by spring 2028

Reported by Higher Ed Dive.

• Ph.D. in Management
• University of Oregon