WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� A year ago, the White House was unleashing a blitz on higher education. At one campus after another, Trump officials opened investigations and unless schools fell in line with the Republican president鈥檚 political agenda.
Now, after a campaign that put dozens of universities , President Donald Trump’s administration is taking a wider approach, moving to rewrite the federal rules that govern all of higher education. Demands that were being pressed on individual schools are being written into the fine print for thousands of U.S. universities.
鈥淲e鈥檙e coming over the higher education system and course correcting,鈥� Nicholas Kent, undersecretary for the Education Department, said in an Associated Press interview. Unlike investigations that target individual campuses, he said the new tactic has power 鈥渢o affect 6,000 institutions.鈥�
The shift comes after blocked Trump’s administration from making at Harvard and the University of California, Los Angeles. It also follows a mass exodus in civil rights lawyers who traditionally guide investigations against universities. Still, Trump hasn鈥檛 backed down from his campaign to end what he calls 鈥渨okeness鈥� run amok in academia.
Through regulation, the administration is going after many of the same targets it hammered with investigations 鈥� policies, , and a variety of practices perceived as anti-white discrimination.
Several US agencies propose new rules
One new rule being proposed by the Education Department would overhaul the system that decides which colleges can receive federal money, known as the accreditation process. Among other changes, the proposal would require accreditors to make sure colleges have 鈥渋ntellectual diversity,鈥� a veiled call for more conservative voices.
Many people in higher education are alarmed by a proposal from the Office of Management and Budget that would order agencies to ensure federal grants 鈥渁dvance the President鈥檚 policy priorities.鈥� Trump officials would verify that grants aren’t used to promote DEI, 鈥渁nti-American values鈥� or anything denying 鈥渢he sex binary in humans,” according to the proposal issued last week. An OMB spokesperson said the rule aims to promote transparency.
Another proposal from the General Services Administration would require federal grant recipients, including universities and their contractors, to certify they don’t have DEI policies deemed unlawful by the administration.
At least 11 new rules have been proposed at the Education Department, including one aimed at 鈥渟treamlining the process鈥� to cut money for schools that violate the Trump administration’s interpretation of civil rights law.
Making federal rules can take months of debate in humdrum bureaucratic processes. But unlike earlier strategies that , the rulemaking process is a widely accepted route to establish federal policy into law 鈥� without needing to go through Congress.
Some in higher education welcome the change. Unlike last year’s attacks, the new approach opens the door for a conversation, said Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education, which represents college and university presidents.
鈥淲e鈥檙e playing a game that has rules and referees, and that鈥檚 good,鈥� said Mitchell, a former Education Department official under President Barack Obama, a Democrat. 鈥淚t gives us an opportunity to talk about where we might agree with the administration. That was impossible to do when these were just straight-on attacks.鈥�
The administration launches fewer new investigations
Meantime, the Education and Justice departments have announced fewer higher-education investigations, issuing news releases on roughly a dozen at U.S. universities so far this year. In the same span last year, they announced more than 70, according to an AP analysis. The exact number of new investigations is unclear 鈥� a public database has not been updated since January 2025.
Kent said the Education Department will continue to open investigations as needed, describing it as using a 鈥渟calpel to cut out the bad.鈥� But he said colleges have started to come to heel on the administration鈥檚 priorities.
鈥淔olks realize that it鈥檚 a new day and that we鈥檙e paying attention,鈥� Kent said.
The vast majority of the investigations opened last year are still open. The White House with , and a handful of , but most cases are unresolved with no public update in months.
Catherine Lhamon, who led the Education Department鈥檚 Office for Civil Rights under President Joe Biden, a Democrat, said the barrage of investigations amounted to 鈥減erformance art鈥� that grabbed attention but had little impact. After pushback from schools, she said, the Trump administration is backing off.
鈥淚t stopped putting itself in a position to lose,鈥� said Lhamon, who now leads the Edley Center on Law and Democracy at the University of California, Berkeley.
Still, some fights have intensified. The White House has doubled down on battles with Harvard and UCLA after federal judges blocked the administration from cutting off research funding from the campuses.
The Justice Department has sued Harvard and UCLA four times since February, alleging that both campuses tolerated antisemitism and that Harvard refused to release admissions data sought by the administration. Leaders of both universities say they have worked to fight antisemitism.
Admissions cases become a top priority
A White House official said the investigative slowdown is also the result of a mounting focus on college admissions. The administration has been building cases against colleges accused of considering race in admissions decisions even after the Supreme Court struck down . Those investigations can take more time because they require large data collections, said the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal strategy.
Some of those cases are now coming to bear.
The Justice Department recently concluded that at Yale and UCLA discriminated against white and Asian American students by allegedly favoring Black and Latino applicants. The universities have defended their admissions processes, saying they were rigorous and based on merit.
Trump officials are taking a hard-line approach against any use of race in admissions, clashing with colleges that invite students to discuss their race in application essays. In its 2023 decision, the Supreme Court said nothing stops schools from considering how applicants鈥� race speaks to broader qualities.
鈥淲e are making sure,” Kent said, 鈥渢hat we are elevating our best and our brightest and that we鈥檙e not putting the thumb on the scale because of somebody鈥檚 skin color.鈥�
Higher education has already been changed
Facing last year鈥檚 blitz, many campuses quietly made changes to avoid scrutiny. Some . The NCAA moved to limit transgender athletes. Universities from UCLA to Columbia tightened campus protest rules after pro-Palestinian demonstrations were the subject of federal investigations.
Research has been scaled back as top schools face continued funding cuts.
In the classroom, there鈥檚 been a chilling effect as professors fear that what they say or teach could attract federal attention, said Todd Wolfson, president of the American Association of University Professors.
Still, he鈥檚 optimistic the balance of power is shifting in universities’ favor. Students and faculty members on several campuses built pressure to reject last fall to sign on to aspects of Trump鈥檚 agenda in exchange for favorable access to research funding, he said. The AAUP has brought several lawsuits against the administration, including one that stopped funding cuts at UCLA.
鈥淭he sector is getting its feet under it, and it鈥檚 only getting stronger,鈥� Wolfson said. 鈥淚 can promise you that we will fight them tooth and nail.鈥�
___
The Associated Press鈥� education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find for working with philanthropies, of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
