Recent Federal Agency Actions Impacting Education

Consistent with President Donald Trump’s executive orders, federal agencies have published additional information and guidance to promote compliance with certain statutes.

Some actions the government has taken since Jan. 20, 2025, have been subject to legal challenges. While courts resolved several lawsuits, it is important to verify the current applicability of federal agency guidance. Consult with legal counsel when considering how these agency actions impact your institution, as well as how to comply with any applicable state laws in your jurisdiction.

The actions below are arranged by subject matter in reverse chronological order.

DEI Programs

Department of Justice (DOJ)

Guidance for Recipients of Federal Funding Regarding Unlawful Discrimination, July 29, 2025

• Clarifies application of federal anti-discrimination laws to programs and initiatives that “may involve discriminatory practices,” including diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, for recipients of federal funding, such as educational institutions
• Provides a non-exhaustive list of unlawful practices that could result in revocation of federal funding, including:
  • Any race-exclusive opportunities or use of protected characteristics as a basis for selecting candidates for employment or program participation
  • Access to facilities or resources based on employee’s or student’s race or ethnicity, such as a “safe space” or lounge, even if it’s technically open to all
  • Facially neutral proxies for protected characteristics, such as geographic or institutional targeting, submission of diversity statements, or use of selection criteria that advantage candidates who have experiences the institution associates with certain racial groups
• Reiterates that while compelled segregation is generally impermissible, failing to maintain sex-separated competitions and intimate spaces also can violate federal law
• Recommends monitoring third parties that receive federal funds to ensure ongoing compliance and terminating funding for noncompliant programs

Memorandum: Civil Rights Fraud Initiative, May 19, 2025

• Tasks newly established initiative with assessing whether any recipient of federal funding who “knowingly violates civil rights laws” and “falsely certifies compliance with such laws” has violated the False Claims Act (FCA)
• Co-led by Civil Fraud Section and Civil Rights Division
• Encourages private parties to file lawsuits under the FCA to share in any monetary recovery

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

What To Do If You Experience Discrimination Related to DEI at Work and What You Should Know About DEI-Related Discrimination at Work, March 2025

• Explains commission’s interpretation of DEI and provides some examples of potential “DEI-related discrimination,” noting Title VII doesn’t define DEI
• Specifies actions employees who believe they’ve experienced employment discrimination related to DEI can take

Department of Education (ED)

Press Release: U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Announce Title IX Special Investigations Team, April 4, 2025

• Forms Title IX Special Investigation Team (SIT) to ensure timely and consistent resolutions to protect students, and especially female athletes, from “pernicious effects of gender ideology” in school activities and programs
• Creates specialized team of investigators from both agencies, enabling a “rapid resolution investigation process” and inter-agency cooperation to conduct investigations that are “fully prepared for ultimate” DOJ enforcement
• Includes in Title IX SIT: ED Office for Civil Rights (OCR) investigators and attorneys, Student Privacy Policy Office staff and investigator, Office of General Counsel attorneys, and DOJ Civil Rights Division attorneys

Frequently Asked Questions About Racial Preferences and Stereotypes Under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, March 1, 2025

• Answers several questions a Feb. 14, 2025, Dear Colleague Letter (see below) raises and how the letter applies to racial classifications, racial preferences, and racial stereotypes
• Intended to expand upon how the OCR will interpret the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College (SFFA v. Harvard) in its enforcement of Title VI

OCR: Dear Colleague Letter, Feb. 14, 2025

Effective April 24, 2025, a federal district court issued nationwide preliminary injunction preventing DCL from taking effect until legal challenges resolve

• Expands SFFA v. Harvard to prohibit covered entities not only from using race in decisions related to admissions, but also to hiring, promotion, compensation, financial aid, scholarships, prizes, administration support, discipline, housing, graduation ceremonies, and “all other aspects of student, academic, and campus life”
• Directs institutions to cease all efforts to “circumvent” prohibitions on the use of race via indirect means, including reliance on any third-parties, clearinghouses, or aggregators

Office of the U.S. Attorney General

Memorandum on Ending Illegal DEI and DEIA Discrimination and Preferences, Feb. 5, 2025

• Identifies educational institutions as a sector of concern
• Advises of potential tools for ending “illegal” DEI and diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) discrimination, including civil compliance investigations, litigation activities, regulatory actions, and sub-regulatory guidance

Title VI/Antisemitism

Department of Justice (DOJ)

Press Releases, Feb. 3 and Feb. 28, 2025

• Announced formation of multi-agency task force to combat antisemitism
• Advised task force will visit 10 university campuses that have “experienced antisemitic incidents since October 2023”

White House Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Takes Forceful and Unprecedented Steps to Combat Anti-Semitism, Jan. 30, 2025

• Promises immediate action by DOJ to investigate and punish anti-Jewish racism in “leftist, anti-American colleges and universities”
• Demands removal of resident aliens who join “pro-jihadist protests,” including deportation and revocation of student visas

Other Issues

Department of State

Announcement of Expanded Screening and Vetting for Visa Applicants, June 18, 2025

• Advises of returning to processing student and visiting scholar visa applications for foreign citizens
• Requires all students applying for a visa to set their social media profiles to “public” as part of the vetting process

ED

DCL: Guidance on the Use of Federal Grant Funds to Improve Education Outcomes Using Artificial Intelligence, July 22, 2025

• Advises federal funding recipients that formula and discretionary grant funds may be used to support improved outcomes for learners through responsible integration of artificial intelligence (AI)
• Examples of use of funding include using AI to enhance high-quality curriculum tools, high-impact tutoring, and college and career pathway advising
• Affirms that principles for responsible use of AI K-12 initiatives should be educator-led, ethical, accessible for disabled students, transparent in the way new tools are rolled out, and in compliance with federal data privacy laws

Dear Colleague Letter and Annual Notice of Legal Obligations under FERPA, March 28, 2025

• Clarifies agency interpretation of Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
• Identifies practice of treating “gender plans” as something other than educational records as violating FERPA

Press Release — Department of Education Initiates Reduction in Force, March 11, 2025

• Initiates reduction in force impacting about 50% of department’s workforce.
• Places impacted staff on administrative leave beginning March 21
• Affirmed by U.S. Supreme Court

Press Release — U.S. Department of Education Ends Biden's Book Ban Hoax, Jan. 25, 2025

• Rescinds all guidance stating school districts could violate civil rights laws by implementing book bans
• Eliminates position of “book ban coordinator,” created in 2023
• Declares decision regarding removal of “age-inappropriate” books from schools should be made by parents and communities and OCR “has no role in these matters,” in conjunction with dismissal of 11 complaints relating to book bans

Department of Homeland Security

Directives Expanding Law Enforcement and Ending Abuse, Jan. 21, 2025

• Rescinds prior guidelines for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection
• Permits immigration enforcement actions in previously designated sensitive areas, including elementary and secondary schools, colleges, hospitals, and places of worship

More From UE

Recent Executive Orders and Actions Impacting Education