Best Practices When Responding to Department of Education Investigations
March 18, 2025
In recent days, the Department of Education has announced two sets of investigations stemming from the administration’s application of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard. The announced investigations are focused on institutional compliance within the context of the Supreme Court opinion and subsequent guidance from the Department of Education in the February 14, 2025, “Dear Colleague Letter” that sought to:
[C]larify and reaffirm the nondiscrimination obligations of schools and other entities that receive federal financial assistance from the United States Department of Education … and reiterate [ ] existing legal requirements under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution, and other relevant authorities.
On March 14, 2025, the Department announced that the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) opened investigations into 45 universities under Title VI civil rights obligations to end the use of racial preferences and stereotypes in education programs and activities. The Department characterized the investigations as focusing on (1) “the use of racial preferences and stereotypes in education programs and activities” related to graduate-level partnerships with “The Ph.D. Project” (45 institutions) and (2) “awarding impermissible race-based scholarships” (seven institutions).
