More Than 50 Universities Face Federal Probe as Part of Trump's Anti-DEI Campaign

More than 50 universities are being investigated for alleged racial discrimination as part of President Donald Trump's campaign to end diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that his officials say exclude white and Asian American students.

- Agencies

WASHINGTON:

The Education Department announced the new investigations Friday, one month after issuing a memo warning America's schools and colleges that they could lose federal money over "race-based preferences" in admissions, scholarships, or any aspect of student life.

"Students must be assessed according to merit and accomplishment, not prejudged by the color of their skin," Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement. "We will not yield on this commitment."

Most of the new inquiries are focused on colleges' partnerships with the PhD Project, a nonprofit that helps students from underrepresented groups get degrees in business with the goal of diversifying the business world.

Department officials said that the group limits eligibility based on race and that colleges that partner with it are "engaging in race-exclusionary practices in their graduate programs."

The group of 45 colleges facing scrutiny over ties to the PhD Project include major public universities such as Arizona State, Ohio State, and Rutgers, along with prestigious private schools like Yale, Cornell, Duke, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

A statement from Ohio State said the university "does not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, or any other protected class, and our PhD programs are open to all qualified applicants."

A message sent to the PhD Project was not immediately returned.

Six other colleges are being investigated for awarding "impermissible race-based scholarships," the department said, and another is accused of running a program that segregates students on the basis of race.

The Education Department said those schools are: Grand Valley State University, Ithaca College, the New England College of Optometry, the University of Alabama, the University of Minnesota, the University of South Florida, and the University of Oklahoma at Tulsa.