Trump acts on education, targeting DEI

In April 2025, President Trump signed a series of executive orders aimed at reforming higher education by targeting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives. The administration's stance views these programs as manifestations of "wokeness," which they argue undermines merit-based systems in academia . One significant order mandates increased scrutiny of financial ties between colleges and foreign entities, particularly those involving sums exceeding $250,000. This initiative seeks to combat perceived foreign influence in American universities while highlighting concerns about transparency and accountability .

One of the actions takes aim at college and university accreditors, organizations the White House says have "abused their authority by imposing discriminatory diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)-based standards."

Another promises new discipline guidance for K-12 schools, with the goal of "ensuring school discipline policies are based on objective behavior, not DEI," the White House said in a statement.

"Today's Executive Orders pave the way for critical innovations — inviting more competition in the higher education accreditation system, ensuring transparency in college finances, supporting new technologies in the classroom, and more," Education Secretary Linda McMahon wrote on social media.

According to a statement from the White House, the order directs McMahon to hold accreditors accountable with “denial, monitoring, suspension, or termination of accreditation recognition, for accreditors’ poor performance or violations of federal civil rights law”. It also orders administration officials to investigate “unlawful discrimination” in higher education.

The White House alleges accreditors have imposed “discriminatory diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)-based standards”, which it describes as a violation of federal law and an abuse of their authority.

While signing orders on Wednesday that Scharf said would direct schools out of the “whole sort of diversity, equity and inclusion cult”, the president said that the US was “getting out of that … after being in that jungle for a long time”.

On a practical level, disparate-impact liability has hindered businesses from making hiring and other employment decisions based on merit and skill, their needs, or the needs of their customers because of the specter that such a process might lead to disparate outcomes, and thus disparate-impact lawsuits.  This has made it difficult, and in some cases impossible, for employers to use bona fide job-oriented evaluations when recruiting, which prevents job seekers from being paired with jobs to which their skills are most suited — in other words, it deprives them of opportunities for success.  Because of disparate-impact liability, employers cannot act in the best interests of the job applicant, the employer, and the American public.  Another order “charges” departments and agencies across Trump’s administration with “enforcing the laws on the books with respect to foreign gifts to American universities.” Scharf said those laws require “certain disclosures of universities” that accept large foreign gifts, which haven’t been “effectively enforced.”

The president also signed an order establishing a White House initiative on historically Black colleges and universities. During the president’s first term, relationships with HBCUs were frayed at times and Trump’s own views on funding the institutions were inconsistent.

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Sarah H

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