President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday calling for a sweeping overhaul of the nation’s higher education accreditation system, accusing federally recognized accreditors of prioritizing “discriminatory ideology” over academic quality and economic value.
The order sharply criticizes current accreditation practices, claiming that many accreditors have used their status as gatekeepers of federal student aid to enforce diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) requirements that the administration says violate federal law and recent Supreme Court precedent.
“Accreditors have not only failed in their responsibility to students, families, and American taxpayers, but they have also abused their enormous authority,” the order states, citing declining graduation rates, negative return on investment for many degrees, and what it calls a shift away from academic excellence.
The move signals a major policy escalation by the Trump administration, which has long opposed DEI initiatives in education, arguing they constitute reverse discrimination and undermine merit-based standards.
Legal Targets: ABA, Medical Education Accreditors
The order names several accrediting bodies as culprits, including the American Bar Association’s Council on Legal Education, which requires law schools to show “a commitment to diversity and inclusion,” and the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, which sets diversity recruitment benchmarks for medical schools.
The Department of Education and the Department of Justice are now directed to investigate these agencies and assess whether their federal recognition should be suspended or revoked for allegedly promoting “unlawful discrimination under the guise of accreditation standards.”
Trump’s order asserts that such DEI-based standards conflict with the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which struck down race-based admissions practices in higher education.
“The standards for training tomorrow’s doctors should focus solely on providing the highest quality care,” the order declares, “and certainly not on requiring unlawful discrimination.”
What’s Changing in Accreditation
Under the new order, the Secretary of Education is tasked with ensuring that accreditation standards:
- Focus on student outcomes like academic quality and return on investment, rather than identity-based metrics;
- Promote intellectual diversity and academic freedom among faculty;
- Prohibit interference with state laws unless those laws violate federal statutes or the Constitution;
- Avoid credential inflation that burdens students with unnecessary educational costs.
The administration also intends to recognize new accreditors to increase competition and allow institutions to exit relationships with agencies enforcing DEI policies.
An “experimental site” will be launched under the Higher Education Act to test alternative quality assurance models, and the federal Accreditation Handbook will be updated to streamline oversight and minimize bureaucracy.
The order comes at a time of growing tension between conservative policymakers and higher education institutions, many of which have expanded DEI efforts in response to longstanding inequities and student advocacy.
Critics, including the American Association of University Professors, warn that gutting DEI from accreditation could severely limit colleges’ ability to address racial and gender disparities, particularly in professional fields like law and medicine.
Supporters of the order, however, say it restores accountability, transparency, and fairness to a system they argue has become ideologically rigid and hostile to viewpoint diversity.
With this executive action, Trump sets up a broader fight over the future of academic governance — one that pits federal authority and civil rights law against long-held norms in higher education.
—
Explore More: For expert commentary, policy breakdowns, and tools to navigate this evolving landscape, visit our content library at InsightIntoAcademia.com.
