K-12 schools and institutions of higher education should be keenly aware of the laws and best practices for engagement with minors (i.e., persons under the age of 18).  Teachers, non-instructional staff, coaches, and volunteers in every school district interact with minors on a daily basis.  In higher ed, faculty, staff, and even college students themselves regularly interact with minors in the context of collegiate athletics and recruiting; college and university admissions programs; and summer school sessions and internships for high-school students.

As the landscape of college athletics undergoes fundamental changes, institutions of higher education (“IHEs”) have a myriad of new issues to consider. At Hunton, attorneys in our Higher Education and Private Schools practice are well prepared to advise on these issues and assist on topics including:

On April 23, 2025, the Administration issued an Executive Order entitled “Reforming Accreditation to Strengthen Higher Education” along with an accompanying fact sheet. An institution of higher education’s accreditation is a prerequisite for participation in the U.S. Department of Education’s federal student financial aid program under Title IV. 

In 2021, the NCAA upended its decades-long prohibition on student athletes’ ability to profit from their name, image and likeness (NIL). This means that student athletes now have, and will continue to market themselves as, a “brand,” i.e., an identity or personality that has intrinsic value, in part due to their association with school athletics. The landmark $2.8 billion proposed settlement in House vs. NCAA, currently pending approval in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, will establish guidelines for this revenue-sharing, including for NIL revenues, among schools and student athletes, further allowing students to profit off of their individual contributions to their team.

On April 17, 2025, Hunton Immigration and Higher Education attorneys provided a client alert summarizing recent visa revocations and student SEVIS record terminations (e.g., F-1 visa and F-1 student status).  This updates the previous client alert, and summarizes important and ongoing changes in federal policy and practices that impact the status of international students studying in the United States. 

On April 24, 2025, federal courts in New Hampshire, Maryland, and the District of Columbia weighed in on three separate challenges brought against the U.S. Department of Education’s February 14, 2025 Dear Colleague Letter (“DCL”), the March 1, 2025 Frequently Asked Questions (“FAQs”), and the April 24, 2025 Certification Requirement for states and public school districts (the “Certification”).

Among the many changes imposed by the new Trump administration, colleges and universities can add one more possible scenario to their list; federal agents  appearing on campus to conduct immigration enforcement activities. On January 21, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) rescinded Biden-era guidance designating colleges and universities as “protected areas” for purposes of immigration enforcement and have conducted at least one arrest on university property.