This week in college admissions, Stanford lays off employees, the University of California system agrees to engage in dialogue with the federal government, the Office for Federal Student Aid launches the test version of next year’s FAFSA, half of graduates feel unprepared for the workplace, and Alabama begins offering direct admissions.
Stanford University has laid off over 360 employees, citing budget cuts from the federal government. The layoffs are part of a $140 million budget reduction at Stanford for the coming year.
The University of California system has announced its willingness to negotiate with the Trump administration, following an investigation into antisemitism at UCLA. The government has suspended $584 million in federal funding, and if talks are successful, UCLA will become the first public university to make a deal to restore funding.
The Office for Financial Student Aid has launched the test version of the FAFSA for 2026-2027 historically early, following a botched rollout of the FAFSA for 2024-25 two years ago. Beta testing, currently limited to selected students and families, will open to the general public in early September, and the FAFSA is set to open on time on October 1.
A survey of more than 1700 college graduates showed that half of them felt their college majors left them unprepared for the workplace, though only 29% wished they had picked a different major. Most respondents thought that college had not given them practical or technical skills or a strong professional network.
Alabama has become the latest state to offer direct admissions to certain high school students. Sixteen primarily public universities in the state, including Alabama State and Alabama A&M, will offer automatic admissions based on students’ high school transcripts. The University of Alabama and Auburn University are not participating in the initiative.
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