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Outlet profile

Inside Higher Ed

U.S. center-left (higher-education trade press)

Owned byOwned by Times Higher Education (THE), which acquired it in January 2022. THE is a portfolio company of the UK private equity firm Inflexion, which bought THE in 2019. Earlier, Quad Partners held a controlling stake from 2014–15 until the 2022 sale.
FundingHistorically advertising (digital display, sponsored content, job and recruitment ads, and marketing from colleges and vendors). It raised early venture capital. In 2026 it announced a shift to a subscription model beginning in April, to add revenue beyond advertising. Its profits go to a private-equity-owned parent.
On the administrationbroadly critical

Background

Inside Higher Ed was founded in 2004 by Scott Jaschik and Doug Lederman, two former editors of The Chronicle of Higher Education, as an online-only, free alternative to that publication. It was funded by venture capital and sustained mainly by advertising. In 2014–15 Quad Partners, an investment firm with stakes in for-profit education companies, bought a controlling interest, which drew some criticism from faculty-union and academic commentators over a possible conflict of interest. In January 2022 Times Higher Education bought the outlet, putting it under the same owner as the London-based THE rankings and media business, which Inflexion had acquired in 2019. Jaschik stepped back after about 20 years, and Sara Custer, a former THE editor, became editor in chief in 2024. The outlet is known for detailed news on policy, admissions, finance, accreditation, and campus issues, and for opinion columns and a large volume of sponsored and advertising content from the sector it covers. Its readership is mostly administrators, faculty, and policy professionals, and its framing generally reflects concerns of colleges and academics, with opinion and commentary leaning center-left. In 2026 it said it would move to a subscription model while stating its journalism would not change. During Trump's second term its coverage has focused on federal research-funding cuts, accreditation overhaul, student-aid changes, international-student restrictions, DEI rollbacks, and the legal fights over them, and it also reports the administration's stated goals.

Sources

  1. Inside Higher Ed – Wikipedia
  2. Inside Higher Ed – Our History
  3. Inside Higher Ed Is Bought by a For-Profit College Investor – PSC CUNY Clarion
  4. Times Higher Education Acquires Inside Higher Ed – Adjunct Nation
  5. Inflexion completes acquisition of Times Higher Education
  6. Inside Higher Ed's Model Is Changing. Our Journalism Is Not. (April 2026)
  7. A New Model for the Future of Inside Higher Ed (January 2026)
  8. Announcing Inside Higher Ed's new editor in chief, Sara Custer
  9. 4 Takeaways From Trump's First Year in Office – Inside Higher Ed

Profile compiled 2026-10-16; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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