For decades, the university required students seeking medical leaves to withdraw and reapply. A campus suicide set off a cascade of revisions.

Many Texas A&M faculty and students are anxious about what a state law banning activities related to diversity, equity and inclusion will mean for what is taught, who is hired and how universities support students.

With every new shortcut that students get their hands on, educators predict doom. It never quite pans out that way.

Now prepare to be rejected.

Starting off the semester on a high note requires that students understand course and classroom expectations. Professors can get the message across with these strategies. Back-to-school season brings a new wave of students to college campuses each fall, many of them unaware of higher education’s hidden curriculum.

The new academic year brings hopeful signs amid thorny challenges, as summed up by these data points.