The Trump administration has put schools and universities on notice: they have two weeks to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives or risk losing federal funding.
In a memo released Friday, the U.S. Department of Education warned that any policy involving “racial preferences”, including in admissions, financial aid, and hiring, must be scrapped.
“Schools have been operating on the pretext that selecting students for ‘diversity’ or similar euphemisms is not selecting them based on race,” said Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights. “No longer. Students should be assessed according to merit, accomplishment, and character.”
Universities nationwide are rushing to determine whether their programs violate the new directive, and if they should fight back. The sweeping order could impact everything from college application essays to faculty hiring and campus clubs.
Despite the pressure, some universities say they expect little change. Oregon State University, for example, has conducted a legal review and believes its programs comply with state and federal laws.
The new guidance also takes direct aim at several long-standing college policies:
- College Essays – Schools cannot use essays as a way to indirectly consider race in admissions. While the Supreme Court decision allowed students to discuss how race impacted their lives, the Education Department now warns against using those essays to determine racial identity.
- Standardized Testing – Colleges that dropped SAT and ACT requirements in recent years could now face legal challenges. The memo says schools cannot remove these tests specifically to increase racial diversity.
- Financial Aid – Scholarships designated for specific racial groups are now in question. Some schools have already dropped racial requirements from their scholarships, but financial aid experts say there’s no clear consensus on whether the Supreme Court ruling applies to funding.
The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators warned that the uncertainty could harm students who rely on scholarships. “The last thing students need when making plans about how to pay for college is uncertainty over when or whether they will receive financial aid they’ve been relying on,” the group said.
Even Trump’s own administration seems unclear on how far the new policy extends. At her confirmation hearing, education secretary nominee Linda McMahon was asked whether African American history classes would violate Trump’s anti-DEI order. She admitted she wasn’t sure.
Meanwhile, the administration has already cut $600 million in grants for teacher training programs that it deemed “divisive.” Programs focused on DEI, critical race theory, and social justice activism were among those targeted.
Schools are now facing a difficult choice: comply with the new policy and potentially weaken their diversity efforts, or fight back and risk losing critical federal funding. The School Superintendents Association is advising institutions to take a wait-and-see approach, suggesting that any funding cuts would require lengthy investigations.
Trump has previously called for the elimination of the Education Department altogether, and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has already slashed dozens of education-related contracts deemed “wasteful.”
