Coronavirus News Roundup for May 6

Today's news can be summed up in one word: cuts.

State budget cuts. College budget cuts. Company budget cuts.

But there's plenty of that down below. Let's take a breather with some palate cleansers.

I am living for this turkey intimidating a golfer.

If you're living with roommates during this pandemic, you might find humor in some of these tweets.

By now you all should've had quarantine pancakes at least once. Here's a way to spice them up -- make them savory.

One last thing before we get going. Inside Higher Ed will be hosting a Reddit AMA today at 2 p.m. Please join us to ask our reporters all your questions related to COVID-19 and higher education.

Now on to the news.

Ohio plans to cut public college funding by $110 million in the next two months as part of a larger spending cut in response to a massive decline in state revenues.

The University of Akron plans to eliminate six of its 11 academic colleges, though it has yet to announce which ones.

Teachers' unions and other education organizations are calling on the federal government to provide $500 billion in aid to states in the next relief package to help ease state cuts to both higher education and K-12 systems.

Some lawmakers have introduced a bill to cancel student debt for front-line medical workers.

A survey from the National Association of Colleges and Employers found that employers are cutting back on their summer internships.

Michigan has found a way to get (some) college students food benefits, despite the federal government's recent denial of states' requests to waive student eligibility requirements for the program. A new state rule will let those enrolled in programs that fall under Perkins V receive the benefits.

Here’s a quick roundup of our latest stories, in case you’ve fallen a bit behind (we don’t blame you):

Emma Whitford has the details on a report on state higher education funding. The main takeaway? Funding still hasn't returned to pre-Great Recession levels.

Faculty at Ohio University say budget mismanagement is at least partly to blame for recent tenure-track faculty cuts, Colleen Flaherty reports.

Cengage and McGraw-Hill Education planned to merge this year, but the process has been called off, Lindsay McKenzie writes.

Greta Anderson wrote about a new poll from the Knight Foundation and Gallup found that students are still conflicted about how free speech should be handled on college campuses.

News From Elsewhere

Consumer Reports has a story on what relief means for different student loans.

The world -- including colleges -- will likely look different this fall compared to last. NPR breaks down several scenarios colleges may use to keep educating students.

Education Dive spoke with some colleges' tech teams about how they're handling the switch to remote learning and potential future virtual semesters.

Percolating Thoughts

This is a time when everyone has an opinion. As journalists, we try not to have opinions, but we've gathered some interesting ones from others.

Graduate students at Brown University wrote about the recent flurry of graduate student organizing, and how colleges need to work with them to ensure graduate education survives the pandemic, in The Chronicle of Higher Education.

A Forbes writer listed how a few dozen colleges are using their CARES Act student aid funds.

The CEO of Educause writes that it's time for technology to take center stage at universities rather than stay in the background as a utility.

Have any percolating thoughts or notice any from others? Feel free to send them our way or comment below.

We’ll continue bringing you the news you need in this crazy time. Keep sending us your questions and story ideas. We’ll get through this together.