menu_open Columnists
Lexi Lonas Cochran

Lexi Lonas Cochran

The Hill

We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

Experts, school leaders excited about Presidential Fitness Test but urge reforms

Health experts and school leaders are thrilled with President Trump's revival of the Presidential Fitness Test, but they are hoping for substantial...

yesterday 10

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

Brown University signs deal with Trump administration to restore funding

Brown University on Wednesday announced a deal with the Trump administration that ends three investigations into the institution and restores research...

31.07.2025 5

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

Trump administration freezes more than $100M in federal funding for Duke

The Trump administration has frozen $108 million to Duke University just days after it launched an investigation into alleged race-based...

30.07.2025 8

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

Trump admin seeks to unleash AI in schools

The Trump administration is looking to propel the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in schools, a task that puts the U.S. in a race with China and...

30.07.2025 10

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

UCLA ends antisemitism lawsuit with $6 million settlement

The University of California, Los Angeles, (UCLA) has agreed to pay more than $6 million in a consent agreement after Jewish faculty and students...

29.07.2025 1

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

Trump administration investigating Duke over race-related discrimination allegations

The Trump administration announced Monday it is investigating Duke University and the Duke Law Journal for allegedly using race-based discrimination...

29.07.2025 8

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

Head Start faces new worries about its future with Trump, GOP

Supporters of Head Start are worried about the program’s future as it faces Trump administration calls for budgetary cuts ahead of the next school...

27.07.2025 10

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

Education Department releases $5 billion to schools after monthlong hold

The Department of Education announced Friday the release of more than $5 billion of funding to schools after an almost monthlong pause. At the...

25.07.2025 8

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

Columbia settlement concerns mount as McMahon declares 'template' for other schools

Columbia University's settlement with the Trump administration is making waves across higher education as the White House indicates it wants the...

25.07.2025 20

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

McMahon lauds Columbia deal as potential 'template' for other institutions

Education Secretary Linda McMahon is hopeful the Trump administration's deal with Columbia University can be used at other schools as the White House...

24.07.2025 1

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

International students look to cleanse social media amid new Trump visa policy

International students are scrubbing their social media or in some case reevaluating their decision to study in the U.S. after the Trump...

24.07.2025 10

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

Proponents hope to make Ten Commandments next Supreme Court test of religion in schools

State laws requiring the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms keep losing in court, but that won't matter if they win at the highest court in...

23.07.2025 40

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

Trump knocks Harvard case judge: 'Total disaster'

President Trump took to Truth Social on Monday to criticize the judge presiding over a long-anticipated hearing over his administration’s battle...

21.07.2025 10

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

Trump backtracks on after-school funding after bipartisan push

Stakeholders and lawmakers are cheering after the Trump administration ended a pause on $6 billion in federal after-school and summer school funding...

21.07.2025 20

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

Trump administration to release funds for after-school, summer programming

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) announced Friday the Trump administration had agreed to release at least some of the $6 billion in funding meant...

18.07.2025 2

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

DOJ investigating George Mason University employment practices

The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Thursday it is investigating George Mason University over alleged “discriminatory employment practices...

17.07.2025 1

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

10 GOP senators come out against latest Trump school funding cuts, saying they 'will harm students'

A group of 10 GOP senators penned a letter to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on Wednesday condemning a pause in funding for...

17.07.2025 40

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

Trump funding cuts to PBS set to hit free educational content for kids

Looming federal funding cuts for PBS put in jeopardy some of the most-used educational videos and games shown to help children improve in literacy and...

17.07.2025 60

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

Columbia announces additional steps to combat antisemitism amid negotiations with Trump administration

Columbia University announced Tuesday additional steps it would take to combat campus antisemitism after months of negotiations with the Trump...

16.07.2025 2

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

Gallup finds rising confidence in higher education, but big partisan gap

New results from a Wednesday Lumina Foundation-Gallup education survey shows confidence in higher education has gone up for the first time in a decade...

16.07.2025 30

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

Education Department announces foreign funding investigation against University of Michigan

The Education Department announced on Tuesday it is opening a foreign funding investigation against the University of Michigan after alleged...

16.07.2025 10

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

Supreme Court OKs Trump layoffs at Education Department: 5 things to know

The Supreme Court ruled Monday to allow the Trump administration to move forward with mass layoffs at the Department of Education, a move supported by...

15.07.2025 9

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

24 states sue over funding pause to after-school programs

Twenty-four Democratic states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit on Monday challenging the Trump administration’s pause on education...

14.07.2025 2

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

Student loan borrowers navigate new landscape as options dwindle under Trump

Student loan borrowers’ options are dwindling and time is not on their side as the Trump administration turns up the heat to get all borrowers back...

13.07.2025 20

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

Education Department announces investigation against George Mason over DEI

The Education Department announced on Thursday a civil rights investigation against George Mason University over allegations of discrimination...

10.07.2025 2

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

The 'big, beautiful' fight over school choice ends with escape clause for blue states

Republicans quietly passed a first-of-its-kind national school choice program in President Trump's "big, beautiful bill," but celebration among...

10.07.2025 60

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

Larger fights rage on, but Trump racking up wins against colleges

President Trump has racked up a string of wins against colleges and universities in recent weeks, though the larger fights between his administration...

09.07.2025 30

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

After-school special: Latest Trump funding freeze hits summer classes mid-swing

The Trump administration is effectively shutting down a vast swath of summer programming and after-school activities after it froze more than $6...

04.07.2025 10

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

University of California reiterates student government ban on boycotting Israel amid Trump pressure

The University of California (UC) system sought to reiterate a policy Wednesday that bans student governments from boycotting specific countries,...

03.07.2025 2

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

GOP's proposed cap on grad student loans sparks fears of pricing out fields of study

Congress is on the verge of greenlighting new restrictions capping how much graduate students will be able to borrow from the federal government in a...

03.07.2025 20

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

Lawsuit challenges Texas law requiring 10 Commandments in classrooms

Two lawsuits have been filed against a Texas law requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public school classrooms. On Wednesday, 16 Texas...

02.07.2025 2

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

UVA ouster shows Trump higher ed fight ready to go beyond Ivy Leagues

The shocking ouster of the president of the University of Virginia (UVA) has shown the Trump administration is expanding its higher education battle...

02.07.2025 10

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

Record-breaking heat dome disrupts summer school, student activities

This week's heat dome put a big hole in summer school. Summer classes and other events for students across the country were disrupted by...

27.06.2025 9

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

DOJ investigating University of California over 'potential race- and sex-based' hiring discrimination

The Department of Justice announced Thursday it is investigating the University of California (UC) over alleged civil rights violations in its...

26.06.2025 9

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

Live updates: Senate GOP dealt blow on Medicaid cuts; Hegseth attacks media at presser

The Senate parliamentarian dealt a big blow to Republicans' plans to cut Medicaid as part of its "big, beautiful bill." The move could jeopardize the...

26.06.2025 70

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

Harvard scientist accused of frog embryo smuggling faces new charges

Harvard University researcher Kseniia Petrova is facing a pair of additional charges two weeks after a judge released her from Immigration and Customs...

26.06.2025 10

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

Colleges nervously await Trump-Harvard deal

Colleges are waiting with bated breath after President Trump announced an upcoming deal with Harvard University, fearing concessions that could become...

26.06.2025 10

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

Khalil release invigorates advocates, but long legal fight lies ahead

Mahmoud Khalil’s supporters and advocates are breathing a sigh of relief after his release from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody,...

24.06.2025 2

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

Judge raises free speech concerns in Trump administration effort to ban Harvard international students

A district judge raised free speech concerns in the latest legal block of the Trump administration's attempts to ban Harvard University from enrolling...

24.06.2025 40

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

Mahmoud Khalil vows to continue protests after release from detention

Mahmoud Khalil is vowing to press on in his fight for the pro-Palestinian cause after he was released from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement...

23.06.2025 9

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

Advocates fear litmus test in new student visa rules

Advocates for foreign students fear that a new Trump administration visa requirement of a social media review will serve as an ideological litmus...

23.06.2025 10

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

Appeals court rules Louisiana law requiring Ten Commandments in schools is unconstitutional

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit ruled Friday a Louisiana law requiring the Ten Commandments to be posted in all public school...

21.06.2025 40

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

California given deadline to overhaul sex education program

The Trump administration gave California a 60-day deadline to overhaul its sex education program or risk losing federal funding. California must...

20.06.2025 2

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

Trump: Harvard deal expected in 'next week or so'

President Trump posted on Truth Social Friday that the administration is expecting to make a deal with Harvard after its numerous actions against the...

20.06.2025 3

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

Absent for ICE: Trump immigration enforcement hits school attendance

President Trump's immigration crackdown is exacerbating the already precarious problem of absenteeism in America's schools. Experts say schools will...

19.06.2025 3

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

US restarting foreign student visas, demands social media access

The Department of State announced Wednesday the U.S. will be restarting interviews and processing foreign student visas but now will be asking...

19.06.2025 10

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

Minnesota shootings highlight danger of political tensions at state, local levels

The recent attacks on two Minnesota state lawmakers show the dangers of heightened political tensions are not just found on the national level but...

19.06.2025 10

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

Judge extends ruling against Trump visa block for Harvard

A federal judge in Boston ruled on Monday to extend the pause on the Trump administration’s order to take away Harvard University's ability to...

17.06.2025 20

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

RFK Jr.'s vaccine moves raise fears ahead of next school year

Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s decision to fire the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) entire...

16.06.2025 4

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran

Judge declines to release Mahmoud Khalil after government shifts to 'other charge of removability'

A federal judge on Friday determined that Mahmoud Khalil, the pro-Palestinian activist from Columbia University, will remain in Immigration and...

14.06.2025 10

The Hill

Lexi Lonas Cochran