Trump Order Focuses on 'Secret Weapon' to Reshape Colleges

President Trump issued new executive orders Wednesday targeting US colleges and the accrediting organizations that oversee them, part of his campaign against "wokeness" and DEI efforts in higher education. One order calls for tougher enforcement of Section 117 of the Higher Education Act. This federal law, passed in the 1980s, requires colleges to disclose foreign gifts and contracts of $250,000 or more. The White House claims Harvard and other universities have violated this law, which has been "unevenly enforced," per the AP. A second order aims to shake up the bodies responsible for accrediting colleges, which then allows them to accept federal financial aid; Trump has referred to this move as his "secret weapon" to remake higher education, the Wall Street Journal reports.

• One order directs the Education Department and the attorney general to increase enforcement and possibly withhold federal money from institutions that violate disclosure rules. The administration aims to "end the secrecy surrounding foreign funds in American educational institutions" and protect against "foreign exploitation." Concerns over financial ties between higher education institutions and foreign countries, especially China, have been persistent among Republicans and have been reignited during the recent dispute between the White House and Harvard University. One Republican representative says he believes China uses academic ties to "indoctrinate students" and steal US research.

• Another order focuses on organizations known as accreditors, which set the standards colleges must meet to access federal financial aid. Trump has criticized the current system, calling it "dominated by Marxist Maniacs and lunatics." The new order instructs the government to suspend or terminate accreditors that, in the administration's view, discriminate against colleges due to DEI requirements. Some accreditors have already dropped or stopped enforcing DEI criteria following previous pressure from Trump. "Revoking accreditation is an existential threat for these universities," explains one research fellow. "If you lose Pell grants and lose student loans, for most colleges that means you're done."
• Other executive orders focused on K-12 schools, CNN reports. One aims to ensure students are taught how to use artificial intelligence. Another, per NPR, addresses discipline in schools and promises to issue new guidance "ensuring school discipline policies are based on objective behavior, not DEI." Obama- and Biden-era discipline policies aimed to reduce racial disparities in disciplinary measures such as suspensions and expulsions, but the Trump executive order says "racially preferential discipline practices" will be prohibited under the new guidance.