The U.S. Department of Education announced on Friday that it has opened investigations into more than 50 universities for alleged racial discrimination, stating that their graduate program admissions considered race rather than being merit-based.
The DOE's move is seen as part of President Donald Trump's effort to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs. The DEI policies at universities exclude white and Asian American students, according to the Trump administration.
The inquiries from the DOE's Office of Civil Rights focus on the partnership of 45 universities with the PhD Project, a nonprofit that helps broaden the pipeline for students to enter the field of business.
The OCR also opened investigations into six universities for allegedly awarding impermissible race-based scholarships and one university for allegedly administering a program that segregates students on the basis of race.
U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said the announcement of the probe strengthened the department's efforts to root out discrimination.
“The Department is working to reorient civil rights enforcement to ensure all students are protected from illegal discrimination," she said in a statement. "Today’s announcement expands our efforts to ensure universities are not discriminating against their students based on race and race stereotypes. Students must be assessed according to merit and accomplishment, not prejudged by the color of their skin. We will not yield on this commitment.”
The universities now under investigation for allegedly engaging in race-exclusionary practices in their graduate programs include:
- Arizona State University – Main Campus
- Boise State University
- Cal Poly Humboldt
- California State University – San Bernadino
- Carnegie Mellon University
- Clemson University
- Cornell University
- Duke University
- Emory University
- George Mason University
- Georgetown University
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Montana State University-Bozeman
- New York University
- Rice University
- Rutgers University
- The Ohio State University – Main Campus
- Towson University
- Tulane University
- University of Arkansas – Fayetteville
- University of California-Berkeley
- University of Chicago
- University of Cincinnati – Main Campus
- University of Colorado at Colorado
- University of Delaware
- University of Kansas
- University of Kentucky
- University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
- University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
- University of Nebraska at Omaha
- University of New Mexico – Main Campus
- University of North Dakota – Main Campus
- University of North Texas – Denton
- University of Notre Dame
- University of NV – Las Vegas
- University of Oregon
- University of Rhode Island
- University of Utah
- University of Washington-Seattle
- University of Wisconsin-Madison
- University of Wyoming
- Vanderbilt University
- Washington State University
- Washington University in St. Louis
- Yale University
The schools under investigation for alleged impermissible race-based scholarships and race-based segregation are:
- Grand Valley State University
- Ithaca College
- New England College of Optometry
- University of Alabama
- University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
- University of South Florida
- University of Tulsa School of Medicine.
