The Trump administration’s Department of Education announced Wednesday it has launched national-origin discrimination investigations into five universities over scholarship programs allegedly restricted to undocumented or foreign-born students.
ED’s Office for Civil Rights is investigating five universities for allegedly granting scholarships only for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) or illegal alien students, in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964: https://t.co/LppqdvuYZV pic.twitter.com/tR173LMm1N
— U.S. Department of Education (@usedgov) July 23, 2025
The Office for Civil Rights is examining programs at the University of Louisville, University of Nebraska Omaha, University of Miami, University of Michigan, and Western Michigan University.
At issue: whether these schools offer scholarships exclusively to recipients of DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) or undocumented students, potentially violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on national origin.
The investigations stem from complaints filed by the Equal Protection Project, part of the Legal Insurrection Foundation, which alleges these scholarships discriminate against U.S. citizens and legal residents.
The Education Department emphasized that scholarship eligibility must comply with federal civil rights law.
