From a finalized deal combining two Catholic colleges to a legal filing to stop a hefty severance payment, here are the top-line figures from some of our biggest stories of the week.
By the numbers
6,000
The number of students Gannon University and Ursuline College expect to collectively enroll when they combine by the end of next year. Pennsylvania-based Gannon is acquiring Ohio-based Ursuline, which will be renamed the Ursuline College Campus of Gannon University.
$1.9 million
The severance payment to Western New Mexico University’s outgoing leader that the institution’s trustees approved last month. The state’s attorney general, Raúl Torrez, filed an emergency motion this week seeking to block the payment, calling it a “gross misuse of funds.”
56+
The number of Republican lawmakers backing a bill that would prohibit federally funded colleges or K-12 schools from allowing transgender women and girls to participate on sports teams aligning with their gender identity. The proposal is one of 12 bills that House lawmakers outlined as legislative priorities this month.
24
How many years Jay Hartzell has worked at the University of Texas at Austin, first as a faculty member in 2001 and then as its president in September 2020. Hartzell announced he is departing the large public flagship to lead Southern Methodist University, a Dallas-based private nonprofit.
6
The number of trends we rounded up in our annual outlook for the higher education sector. Among them, we expect colleges to grapple with budgetary strains, federal policy shifts and further attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion.
