Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Josh Moody

@byjoshmoody.bsky.social

Inbox: PragerU announces partnership with Southeastern University. Also, to be be fair, people only said that PragerU wasn't a real university because... it's not a real university. Still isn't.

Screenshot of an email sent to Inside Higher Ed reporter, Josh Moody. Text reads as follows: "LOS ANGELES — For years, critics have gleefully reminded us that PragerU isn’t a “real university.” Well, it just got real. Starting now, students can earn college credit through a partnership pathway, proving that learning America’s story through facts, values, and common sense can, indeed, count toward a degree. PragerU is partnering with accredited universities to offer full college-level courses in History and Civics. Our first and most exciting partnership is with Southeastern University, which has both national and international campuses. Additional partnerships via Christian Halls will be announced in the coming years as we continue to expand our reach and course offerings. The first course with Southeastern University is Leaders & Legacies: American History Through Presidential Biographies — a comprehensive college-level course built around PragerU’s acclaimed 5-Minute Videos. The course features lectures from distinguished historians and scholars, including Allen Guelzo, Wilfred McClay, and Carol Swain.”

November 6, 2025 at 5:30 PM

Josh Moody

@byjoshmoody.bsky.social

Inbox: New College of Florida wants to be the first to sign on to the Trump administration's proposed Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.

An email from New College officials indicating interest in the compact.

October 27, 2025 at 5:05 PM

Josh Moody

@byjoshmoody.bsky.social

And the White House:

White House press email: “Due to staff shortages resulting from the Democrat Shutdown, the typical 24/7 monitoring of this press inbox may experience delays. We ask for your patience as our staff work to field your requests in a timely manner. As you await a response, please remember this could have been avoided if the Democrats voted for the clean Continuing Resolution to keep the government open. The press office also cannot accommodate waves requests or escorts at this time. Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

October 2, 2025 at 3:19 PM

Josh Moody

@byjoshmoody.bsky.social

How the Department of Education responded to my email this morning.

ED email response: “Thank you for contacting the press team. On September 19, 2025, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 5371, a clean continuing resolution. Unfortunately, Democrat Senators are blocking passage of H.R. 5371 in the Senate which has led to a lapse in appropriations. Due to the lapse in appropriations, we are currently in furlough status. We will respond to emails once government functions resume.”

October 2, 2025 at 3:16 PM

Josh Moody

@byjoshmoody.bsky.social

The UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees released a statement this morning. (Unmentioned is the fact that they previously settled over alleged violations of open meetings acts, so they have a history of doing what they are being accused of.)

Statement from UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees Chair Malcolm Turner: "The former Provost’s baseless assault on this volunteer Board and how it conducts its business stands in stark contrast to the widely recognized excellence the University has achieved under this Board’s leadership. His allegations are disappointing and inaccurate, not to mention a waste of taxpayer dollars, for which this former officer of the University shows no regard. His claims will not withstand scrutiny."

September 24, 2025 at 3:45 PM

Josh Moody

@byjoshmoody.bsky.social

Home. Go Big Red 🌽

Tom Osborne and Brook Barringer statue outside of Memorial Stadium in Lincoln.

September 13, 2025 at 3:07 PM

Josh Moody

@byjoshmoody.bsky.social

I think one can say with full journalistic objectivity that any president who threatens to unleash the “Department of War” on Chicago is deeply unwell.

A Truth Social post from Donald Trump that threatens that reads in part: “Chicago is about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR.”

September 7, 2025 at 3:43 PM

Josh Moody

@byjoshmoody.bsky.social

The White House is mad about tomatoes?
www.whitehouse.gov/articles/202...

Smithsonian description: "The Immokalee Statue of Liberty is holding a tomato in her right hand instead of a torch, and a basket of tomatoes in her left hand instead of a tablet. Her bronze skin tone represents workers from Mexico and Central America who labor on U.S. farms. On her pedestal is the message: “I, too, am America!”

August 21, 2025 at 9:14 PM

Josh Moody

@byjoshmoody.bsky.social

But as experts told us–this doesn’t bode well for higher education, which has enough problems.

Quote: “People may not know what’s a real university and what isn’t, so they just throw their hands up and say, ‘Universities are too expensive anyway,’” said Marichal, the algorithm expert. “When people don’t know what’s true or false anymore, they’re less inclined to trust any of it.”

August 14, 2025 at 2:00 PM

Josh Moody

@byjoshmoody.bsky.social

The scammers are also failing to keep the sites updated as demonstrated by the Joe Biden scholarship here. I’m sure someone will roll out a Donald Trump scholarship soon enough. (Whether that will be a real or fake university is TBD.)

Screenshot of fake Joe Biden scholarship.

August 14, 2025 at 1:59 PM

Josh Moody

@byjoshmoody.bsky.social

While the sites are likely to fool some consumers (I know an international student was ripped off by an earlier version of one of the Houston sites back in 2022) it isn’t all convincing. Some of it was pure AI slop. Like whatever the hell this is…

August 14, 2025 at 1:55 PM

Josh Moody

@byjoshmoody.bsky.social

So I began searching backwards, looking for other websites that listed those accreditors and I found several. Then I found more fake accreditors which pointed me to other scam college sites. There was even a fake Department of Education site.

Screenshot of fake Department of Education page.

August 14, 2025 at 1:54 PM

Josh Moody

@byjoshmoody.bsky.social

Still, I thought it was just one fake website… until I looked at the accreditors page which included multiple fake organizations with links to those websites which were also AI-heavy. That’s when I knew it had to go deeper. Why create fake accreditor pages for one college?

August 14, 2025 at 1:53 PM

Josh Moody

@byjoshmoody.bsky.social

Important shoe leather journalism from @streetsensedc.bsky.social

streetsensemedia.org/article/home...

August 13, 2025 at 1:53 AM

Josh Moody

@byjoshmoody.bsky.social

I’m on scene at George Mason Today where students, faculty, staff and community members are expressing support for President Gregory Washington amid concerns the Board of Visitors will fire him amid multiple federal investigations.