Following through on their plan to dismantle diversity programs at universities, the Trump administration is investigating 45 graduate programs across the country involved in the Ph.D. Project.
Amongst the universities under investigation are Ivy League institutions like Yale University and Cornell University, and California public universities like the California State University, San Bernardino and the University of California, Berkeley.
The United States Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is also investigating six universities for “allegedly awarding impermissible race-based scholarships and one university for allegedly administering a program that segregates students on the basis of race.”
With the mission of “enriching education for all,” the New York Times explained that “the Ph.D. Project has worked to increase the number of Black, Hispanic and Native American students earning doctoral degrees in business.”
According to its members, the Ph.D. Project has worked to change the future of the American workforce by providing students with the tools and mentorship programs “to be confident that their unique viewpoints are valued and that everyone [has] the opportunity to succeed.”
On Feb. 14, 2025, OCR sent a “Dear Colleague Letter” to educational institutions that receive federal funding, explaining that “pursuant to federal antidiscrimination law, they must cease using race preferences and stereotypes as a factor in their admissions, hiring, promotion, compensation, scholarships, prizes, administrative support, sanctions, discipline and other programs and activities.”
These investigations are being pursued under Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color and national origin in education programs and activities receiving federal funding. According to OCR, if the Trump administration finds evidence that the 52 institutions currently under investigation are in violation of Title VI, they are at risk of losing federal funding.
OCR officials have alleged that the Ph.D. Project “limits eligibility based on race and that colleges that partner with it are engaging in race-exclusionary practices in their graduate programs.”
Following the announcement of the investigation, the Ph.D. Project put out a statement explaining that it aims “to create a broader talent pipeline of current and future business leaders who are committed to excellence and to each other … This year, we have opened our membership application to anyone who shares that vision,” according to AP News. This statement indicates that the project is in compliance with Title IV.
Since its inception, the Ph.D. Project has worked to increase the number of Black, Hispanic and Native American students, professors, administrators and academic leaders at colleges and universities.
Over the last three decades, this program has successfully increased the total number of Ph.D. degrees awarded to people who identify as part of these historically underrepresented groups from 294 to 1,700. Of those 1,700 students, 1,303 are currently teaching in higher education institutions all across the country.
Arizona State University (ASU) — one of the universities being investigated — according to AP News, had decided this year to stop its financial support of the Ph.D. Project. Following the release of the “Dear Colleague Letter,” on Feb. 20, 2025, ASU officials told business school officials that they would not support travel to the Ph.D. Project’s conference.
The Feb. 14 letter from the Department of Education has been characterized by AP News as a “sweeping expansion of a 2023 Supreme Court decision that barred colleges from using race as a factor in admissions.”
Initially targeting admission policies at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina, the Trump administration is interpreting this Supreme Court decision to forbid race-based policies in any capacity at educational institutions receiving federal funding at both the K-12 and higher education levels.
This letter is currently being challenged in federal lawsuits from the nation’s two largest teachers unions on the grounds that the letter is too vague and violates educators first amendment rights to freedom of speech.
