The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) unleashed a sweeping crackdown Friday, launching Title VI investigations into 45 top-tier universities accused of racial discrimination in graduate programs tied to “The Ph.D. Project.”
The probe, sparked by a February 14 ‘Dear Colleague Letter’ banning race preferences, targets schools allegedly gatekeeping doctoral opportunities by race, alongside six others for race-based scholarships and one for segregating students.
“Students must be judged on merit, not skin color,” declared Education Secretary Linda McMahon. “We’re reorienting civil rights enforcement to shield all students from illegal bias.” The hit list spans elite names like MIT, Yale, and UC Berkeley, plus others like Boise State and University of Wyoming, all flagged for partnering with The Ph.D. Project—a group OCR says doles out Ph.D. perks based on racial eligibility. Six more—think University of Alabama and University of South Florida—face heat for race-tied scholarships, while University of Tulsa’s med school is singled out for alleged segregation.
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This blitz builds on OCR’s February edict, rooted in Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which forbids racial discrimination in federally funded programs—violate it, and the funding tap shuts off.
McMahon’s team isn’t stopping here: They’re already tackling antisemitism and sex bias on campuses. “We won’t yield,” she vowed, signaling a seismic shift to meritocracy over identity politics.
The investigations, detailed with FAQs on March 1, promise a reckoning. From Ann Arbor to Omaha, these schools now brace for scrutiny that could reshape how academia picks its stars—and who pays the price.
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
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 (MIT)
- Montana State University-Bozeman
- New York University (NYU)
- 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
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