Education Department orders all federally funded schools to end race preferences in hiring, admissions, and programs

The Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights issued a Dear Colleague letter warning every federally funded school in the country that race-based preferences or stereotyping in admissions, hiring, promotion, financial aid, extracurricular programs, and clinical training could trigger enforcement action under Title VI and Title IX. The letter, signed by Acting Assistant Secretary Craig Trainor, gave institutions 14 days to review their policies before the department began taking complaints. Because virtually every college and university in the United States receives federal funding, the letter applied to the entire higher education system. It went well beyond earlier Supreme Court guidance on admissions by explicitly targeting hiring, promotion, scholarships, and many administrative programs. Universities with existing diversity fellowships, targeted recruitment programs, or equity-centered training immediately began consulting legal counsel about which programs to modify or discontinue.