5 lawsuits that could bring major change to higher ed

This year is already shaping up to be a momentous one for higher education. In Congress, both parties have indicated reauthorization of the Higher Education Act is a priority. The U.S. Department of Education is underway with regulatory overhauls on how colleges are accredited and how they must handle sexual harassment. And President Donald Trump has made headlines with his recent executive order linking research funding for universities to free speech. Change may also be coming through the third branch of government, the courts. Decisions on several current cases could have far-reaching implications for colleges across the U.S., including whether they can consider race in admissions or penalize students for joining single-gender clubs. We're keeping tabs on several high-profile cases that could have an important impact on institutions beyond those involved: There's some evidence to back up the group's claims. While the Asian population in the U.S. is more than twice the size of what is was in the 1990s, the share of Asian freshmen at Harvard has consistently hovered between 16% and 19%, according to The New Yorker. Moreover, an internal Harvard review found its admissions process had "negative effects" on Asian-American applicants.