Virginia colleges face federal accreditation changes

May 29, 2026

1–2 minutes

Summary

Draft federal rules could reshape college accreditation in Virginia, affecting aid, credit transfers, and oversight.

Why this matters

Accreditation determines whether colleges can access federal student aid and whether students’ credits and degrees are widely recognized. Proposed federal changes could affect how Virginia institutions are reviewed and how students move between schools.

Virginia colleges and universities could face new competition and federal scrutiny under draft U.S. Department of Education rules that would change how higher education accreditors are overseen.

Accreditation affects colleges’ access to federal financial aid, the credibility of degrees, credit transfers, and accountability standards.

President Donald Trump directed the Education Department to pursue the changes in an April executive order. The order said accreditors had focused less on outcomes such as affordability, graduation, and employment, and more on diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.

“Accreditation is not simply a compliance exercise, but a peer-driven process that assures quality across a diverse higher education system,” the Council for Higher Education Accreditation said in an April 14 statement. “As this process moves forward, we hope for a balanced framework that strengthens quality and student success while preserving the core strengths of accreditation: peer review; respect for institutional mission; and a focus on continuous improvement.”

Most Virginia colleges and universities are accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.

The administration has not specifically targeted that accreditor. In December, however, the commission said it would make changes to improve efficiency and oversight.

According to the Education Department, after two public hearings and nonpublic sessions, an accreditation, innovation, and modernization committee reached consensus on a proposed framework for new rules.

The department said the rules would increase transparency and fairness, reduce political bias, lower barriers for new accreditors, ease credit transfers, emphasize merit and student outcomes, protect academic freedom and intellectual diversity, reduce accreditation costs for institutions, and limit coordination between program accreditors and related trade associations.

Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent said the administration had been charged with carrying out higher education reforms and that he was confident the changes would benefit students and taxpayers.

The department plans to publish and finalize the regulations by November. Legal challenges are expected before the rules are set to take effect in July 2027.

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World

DR Congo Soccer Team reaches U.S. after Ebola quarantine

DRC qualified for its first World Cup since appearing as Zaire in 1974.

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The Democratic Republic of Congo’s World Cup squad arrived in the United States on a flight from Paris on Thursday after spending 21 days in Europe because of an Ebola outbreak in their home country.

U.S. authorities had required the team to complete the quarantine period in Belgium or risk being denied entry for the tournament.

Coach Sebastien Desabre said he hoped the team could deliver a “good showing” and offer some relief to people in Congo affected by the outbreak.

“It has been a while since the people have seen the team at the World Cup,” said the Frenchman.

“We already had the honour of qualifying for the finals. Now, it is up to us to put up a good showing in this tournament.”

The team canceled a planned pre-World Cup training camp at home after the outbreak began last month and trained in Belgium instead.

Its preparations were disrupted again when a planned warm-up match against Chile in Spain was canceled because of concerns about the spread of the virus.

“We adapted to the situation,” Desabre said. “We had to focus, as we have had to adapt often.

“That is what we did. We worked well, we played two tough friendlies, and here we are. Now, it is another step for us.”

The team was set to be based in Houston during the tournament. Congo will open Group K play against Portugal on June 17, then face Colombia in Guadalajara, Mexico, on June 23, before playing Uzbekistan in Atlanta on June 28.
World Politics

U.S. sanctions Cuba state oil company, tightens policy

Under the sanctions, U.S. citizens are no longer permitted to do business with the company.

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U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced sanctions Thursday on Cuba’s state-owned energy company, Unión Cuba-Petróleo, escalating pressure on Havana and adding to strains in U.S.-Cuba relations.

“Cuba’s Communist elites have weaponized energy as a tool of social control and kleptocratic profit,” Rubio said in a post on X.

He added: “For decades, the regime has stolen and hoarded available fuel – using it for the Castros’ private jet, the security services forces used to repress the Cuban people, to keep empty tourist hotels lit up, and to bus people in for fake protests and political stunts – all while the Cuban people have suffered blackouts and waited weeks to fill their cars.”

Rubio also said that until Cuban people have “greater economic and political freedom and opportunity … we will continue to target the Communist regime’s ability to leverage its energy trade to further its corrupt agenda and violently repress the Cuban people.”

Under the sanctions, U.S. citizens are no longer permitted to do business with the company. According to the announcement, people outside the United States also could face sanctions if they conduct business with Unión Cuba-Petróleo.

The measures are part of the Trump administration’s tougher Cuba policy. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump announced broad sanctions against supporters of the Cuban government in an executive order.
US Politics

Kennedy Center board seeks stay on Trump name ruling

During his second term, Trump replaced the center’s leadership and installed a new board of trustees, which later named him chairman.

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The Kennedy Center board voted Thursday to seek a stay of a court ruling that ordered President Donald Trump’s name removed from the performing arts center by Friday, according to a person familiar with the private meeting.

The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the meeting, said the formal request would be filed Friday.

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled May 29 that Trump’s name was illegally added to the Kennedy Center and said only Congress could change the institution’s name. He also blocked the administration from closing the venue for renovations that had been scheduled to begin in July and last two years.

The board’s move marked a shift from a June 4 memo from the Kennedy Center’s Office of General Counsel directing staff to use “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts” or “Kennedy Center” in email signatures, letterhead, and other documents.

The center’s website no longer included Trump’s name. An email sent earlier this week to members offering ticket packages for the June 28 Mark Twain Award for American Humor ceremony also came from the Kennedy Center without Trump’s name.

The center’s recent programming included events viewed as more aligned with Trump, including the premiere of first lady Melania Trump’s documentary, “Melania.”

The board also announced it had renamed the facility the Trump Kennedy Center and added Trump’s name to the building facade, changes that scholars and lawmakers said must be approved by Congress.

Artists including Issa Rae, Bela Fleck, and Louise Penny withdrew from appearances, while Ben Folds and Renée Fleming resigned from consulting roles. Earlier this month, National Symphony Orchestra Executive Director Jean Davidson left to lead the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Los Angeles.

The board also approved a resolution recognizing Trump’s “commitment to uphold this cherished American institution.”
US Politics

Senate panel advances Department of War rename

The department was known as the War Department from its creation in 1789 until 1947, when President Harry Truman recommended renaming it the Department of Defense.

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The Senate Armed Services Committee voted this week to advance legislation that would rename the Department of Defense as the Department of War, moving the proposal closer to becoming law.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said in a Thursday statement that the name change was included in the committee’s version of the fiscal 2027 National Defense Authorization Act and was one reason he voted against advancing the bill.

Kaine also objected to additional funding for what he called the “illegal and foolish” war in the Middle East.

“Rather than taking steps to end this deeply unpopular war, this bill rebrands the Department of Defense as the Department of War, a juvenile move that sadly describes the reality of a President who has abandoned meaningful diplomacy in favor of starting doubtful wars in multiple locations and threatening even more,” he said.

Congress has not yet legally established the titles Department of War and secretary of war. Still, Pentagon and other federal officials have used the terms as a secondary title since President Donald Trump’s September 2025 executive order calling for the change.

Last week, the House Armed Services Committee approved the name change in its fiscal 2027 National Defense Authorization Act, sending its version of the bill forward. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth praised that vote on social media, writing, “The Department of War will officially be restored soon.”

Critics said the name change was unnecessary and argued that other issues should take priority. Supporters said it would project U.S. strength to adversaries.

A Congressional Budget Office analysis released in January estimated the renaming could cost taxpayers between $10 million and $125 million.

“Instead of prioritizing bringing down the cost of groceries or health care, Trump and his cronies are focused on vanity projects like renaming the Department of Defense to the Department of War – potentially costing American taxpayers upwards of $125 million,” Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., the ranking member and one of the lawmakers who requested the Congressional Budget Office report, said after its release.

“This move is performative government at its worst and does nothing to advance national security or help service members and their families,” he added.
Africa

RSF drone strikes kill 15 in central Sudan city

Emergency Lawyers, a local aid monitoring group, said the death toll was likely to rise because drones were still flying over the city Thursday.

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Drone strikes by Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces killed at least 15 people and wounded more than 10 others overnight in the central city of el-Obeid, health officials said Thursday.

The attacks began late Wednesday and hit several areas of the city, including near an army position, according to two health officials at el-Obeid Hospital, which received the victims. Some of the wounded were in critical condition, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Dr. Mohamed Elsheikh, a spokesperson for Sudan Doctors Network, which tracks casualty tolls, told The Associated Press that Rapid Support Forces drones also struck a funeral gathering at a cemetery, killing four people, and hit a gas station. He said he could not immediately confirm whether the casualties were civilians, combatants, or both.

An aid worker with Mercy Corps told the AP that drone attacks had intensified in recent days across el-Obeid, targeting gatherings of people. The worker, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said schools had suspended classes and markets were only partially open because of the attacks.

Sudan’s war began in April 2023 after tensions between the military and the Rapid Support Forces escalated into open conflict. The war has killed at least 59,000 people, displaced about 13 million, and pushed parts of the country into famine. More than 30 million people need humanitarian assistance.

The military controls northern, eastern, and central Sudan, including Red Sea ports and oil infrastructure. The Rapid Support Forces and allies control Darfur and parts of Kordofan along the South Sudan border. Experts have said drone warfare has become a major threat to civilians, and aid workers say increased drone attacks in Kordofan have disrupted aid operations.
Africa

Nigeria lawmakers advance state police overhaul

The proposal gained urgency as insecurity spread. In May, gunmen abducted dozens of students and teachers in separate attacks in Oyo and Borno states.

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Nigeria’s parliament passed a constitutional bill on Thursday that would allow each of the country’s 36 states to establish and run its own police force alongside the federal Nigeria Police Force.

Supporters, including President Bola Tinubu, said decentralized policing would help address security threats that vary by region, including insurgency in the northeast, kidnappings and banditry in the northwest and north-central regions, farmer-herder clashes, separatist-linked attacks in the southeast, and oil theft in the Niger Delta.

The House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved the bill, and the Senate was expected to adopt it later Thursday. The measure must still win approval from at least two-thirds of state assemblies to take effect.

Police powers have long been controlled from Abuja. State governors have said they are responsible for security in their states but do not control police operations.

Backers of the bill said state police could improve response times, strengthen intelligence gathering, and put officers with greater local knowledge in affected communities.

Tinubu had also promised to increase federal police recruitment, which gave the proposal more momentum than earlier efforts that stalled.

Critics warned that governors could use state police against political opponents or minorities.
Middle East

Israel denies entry to French reporter Alice Froussard

An Israeli minister accused the reporter of supporting Hamas.

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Israel denied entry to French reporter Alice Froussard, who covers the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for Radio France Internationale, France 24’s sister radio station, and Radio France.

Froussard was refused entry after landing Wednesday afternoon at Tel Aviv’s international airport. She spent the night at the airport before being sent back to Paris on a flight Thursday morning.

Israel’s minister for diaspora affairs and combating antisemitism, Amichai Chikli, announced the deportation. He said Froussard “sought to return and work in Israel on a permanent basis” and was “deported this morning and put on a flight back to France” on the ministry’s recommendation.

Radio France Internationale, part of France Médias Monde, said Froussard had the required travel authorization and had applied for a press visa to work in the West Bank.

“RFI journalist Alice Froussard was denied entry into Israeli territory… even though she had the required travel authorisation and had duly applied for a press visa to work in the West Bank,” the broadcaster said in a statement.

“Israeli authorities have not provided RFI with any justification for this decision,” the statement added.

“RFI’s management fully supports Alice Froussard and protests against this expulsion, which constitutes an obstruction of press freedom and comes at a time when journalists are facing increasing difficulties in covering current events in the region.”

The France 24 Société de Journalistes, a journalists’ association, also condemned the decision and said Froussard was traveling to the occupied West Bank “with all the necessary credentials to carry out her assignment.”

In a statement released Thursday, the association said the incident “comes amid a troubling trend of increasing restrictions imposed on journalists seeking to cover news in the region.”

The deportation came two days after France announced an entry ban on Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. French authorities accused Smotrich of promoting the annexation of the West Bank, a Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967.
Europe

U.K. defense chief resigns over military spending

Healey said the government’s Defense Investment Plan fell “well short of what is required at this dangerous time.”

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U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey resigned Thursday, saying the government was not prepared to spend enough on the military amid what he called “rising threats.”

“You have been unable, and the Treasury has been unwilling, to commit the resources that the nation needs to defend the country at this time of rising threats,” Healey wrote in a resignation letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer. “I am now left with no other option than to submit my resignation.”

Publication of the plan has been delayed amid reports of disagreement between the Defense Ministry and the Treasury.

Starmer has pledged to raise U.K. defense spending to 2.5% of gross domestic product by 2027 and 3% by 2034. Healey said the Treasury plan would lift spending to 2.6% next year and 2.68% in 2030, which he said was not enough given British military commitments and conflicts involving Iran and Ukraine, as well as threats from Moscow.

Healey had served as defense secretary since Labour won power in July 2024. He helped build international support for Ukraine and a multinational coalition intended to help guarantee security if a ceasefire is reached. He also helped lead a maritime security force intended to help keep the Strait of Hormuz open to shipping if the Iran war ends.

The United Kingdom and other NATO members have faced pressure from President Donald Trump to increase military spending. Trump has questioned the value of the alliance and said the United States provides security to European countries that do not spend enough on defense.
Health

Study links iPhone rollout to lower U.S. birth rate

Birth rates have declined for decades in both wealthy and poorer countries.

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A new paper by Middlebury College economist Caitlin Myers argued that Apple’s 2007 iPhone debut accounted for 33% to 52% of the decline in the U.S. fertility rate.

Myers said the device may have reduced in-person interaction and made it easier to access pornography and information on contraception, factors she said weighed on birth rates.

“What we are seeing is that the places that have the iPhone have big fertility changes relative to the other places,” Myers told CBS News.

The study used a natural experiment created by the iPhone’s exclusive availability on AT&T from 2007 through 2011. Myers compared birth rates in U.S. counties with broad AT&T coverage, and therefore early iPhone access, with counties that had limited access.

She said she tested whether the results instead reflected the 2008 financial crisis hitting AT&T-covered areas, which were concentrated in cities, harder than other places. After controlling for economic and demographic factors, she said the iPhone effect remained.

“I said, ‘Wow, but this has to be too big,’” Myers recalled. “I was like, ‘Let me try everything I can to explain away what I’m seeing in the data,’ and I just couldn’t.”

She added, “I’m not surprised that there is an effect. I am surprised that it stands out so, so clearly.”

Myers said the research explained only part of a broader trend. Economists have also cited child care costs, delayed parenthood, and decisions not to have children.

“We’re not saying it’s all the iPhone. What we are saying is that it is a really important factor to consider,” she said. “Over this short period of time, it could explain about a third to a half of the decline. Now that leaves about half to two-thirds unexplained.”

The Trump administration has encouraged Americans to have more children and discussed ideas including a “baby bonus” for new parents. It also introduced a tax-deferred investment account for U.S. children, with federal contributions of up to $1,000 for eligible children.

Myers said falling birth rates were unlikely to be reversed through tax incentives alone. On Tuesday, the Social Security Administration said its trust fund could be exhausted as soon as 2032, with declining birth rates among the factors contributing to the projected shortfall.
Finance & Markets

Stocks rise as investors assess U.S. strikes on Iran

The Bureau of Labor Statistics said Thursday that wholesale inflation in May was higher than expected, following the May consumer inflation report.

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U.S. stocks rose after the United States carried out a new round of strikes on Iran, as investors assessed developments in the conflict.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) gained 0.4%, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) and Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) each rose 0.2%.

Oil prices (CL=F, BZ=F) moved lower after rising sharply Wednesday night, as investors weighed whether the conflict would expand.

Some of those declines reversed Thursday morning after President Donald Trump said the U.S. would strike Iran again Thursday night, seize control of Kharg Island, and take “total control” of the country’s energy sector. The comments increased investor concern about a possible ground invasion.

Producer prices rose 1.1% from the previous month and 6.5% from a year earlier.

Initial jobless claims for the week ended June 6 rose to 229,000, above expectations of 220,000. Continuing claims increased to 1.795 million.