U.S. colleges and universities will have three months to regroup after a brutal beginning to the second Trump administration that included sweeping funding cuts, foreign students arrested and the launch of investigations from multiple federal agencies.

President Trump is living up to his promise of a crusade against higher education, leaving campus administrators struggling for a path forward after watching both defiance, such as in Harvard University's case, and compliance, as exemplified by Columbia University, result in devastating funding freezes.

School leaders are stuck between a rock and a hard place as they navigate how to keep community trust while also working with the administration when possible. Some experts are advising strength through numbers.

“I don't think that schools should be attempting to engage in conversations or negotiations with the Trump administration one at a time. I think they have to go in groups. They have to go in coalitions. By coalitions, I mean all eight of the Ivy League universities, for example, all of the Big Ten universities, for example,” said Shaun Harper, a professor of education, business and public policy at the University of Southern California.

“These are the most powerful and the wealthiest universities in the nation. Their alumni are incredibly powerful. These are also schools that have powerhouse sports teams, many of them. ... They just have so much muscle that can be collectively flexed. But, again, any one of these schools attempting to go it alone is going to be eaten alive,”........

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