This post is part of Challenging Precedent, a blog of the Stanford Center for Racial Justice examining race, law, and regulation in the Trump era.

In recent news, the Department of Justice sues Rhode Island over a student loan forgiveness program for minority teachers, the Trump administration redirects billions from Hispanic-Serving Institutions to Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and the Department of Education demands Harvard share its race-based admissions data or face enforcement action. 

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed suit against the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) and the Providence Public School District (PPSD) for racial discrimination against white teachers related to a student loan program designed to attract diverse educators. The “Educators of Color Loan Forgiveness Program” was launched by RIDE and PPSD in collaboration with the Rhode Island Foundation in 2021 to “recruit and retain a diverse, qualified teaching force.” Newly hired full-time teachers who identified as Asian, Black, Indigenous, Latino, biracial, or multi-racial were eligible for up to $25,000 in student loan forgiveness for three consecutive years of work in the school district. In the 2021-2022 school year, 81% of students enrolled in Rhode Island’s four largest school districts were students of color, but only 12.4% of fully certified educators were of color. The DOJ complaint alleges the program violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as a practice of racial discrimination in public employment and seeks a permanent injunction to end the program and damages to non-minority PPSD teachers who were not eligible. 

The Trump Administration has redirected hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding from several Minority-Serving Institution (MSI) grant lines, including Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) programs, to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), among other programs. In September, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) announced that it would end approximately $350 million in MSI/HSI grants following the DOJ’s determination that HSI eligibility criteria–most notably the 25% Hispanic-enrollment threshold–violated the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause. The impacted universities include 21 of the 22 institutions in the California State University system, the nation’s largest four-year public university system. The DOE subsequently allocated $495 million to HBCUs and TCCUs (historically defined institutions, not tied to current racial-enrollment thresholds), an increase of 48.4% and 109.3% in federal funding, respectively. According to ED, the funds were repurposed from “ineffective and discriminatory programs” that the “Department determined are not in the best interest of students and families” and redirected to “advance President Trump’s priorities and targeting resources toward the most effective interventions to bolster educational outcomes.” In a statement, the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) supported reprogramming the funding, calling the additional appropriations “nothing short of a godsend for HBCUs.”

On September 19, 2025, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights issued a Denial of Access letter to Harvard University, giving 20 days to provide the university’s race-based admissions data or face “further enforcement.” The letter comes weeks after a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from freezing roughly $2.2 billion in federal grants to Harvard, finding the freeze unconstitutionally retaliated against the university following its refusal to share race-based admissions data as demanded by the Administration. OCR’s investigation seeks to determine “if Harvard is still using racial stereotypes and preferences in undergraduate admissions” in violation of Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, where the Supreme Court banned affirmative action as a violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and the Equal Protection Clause. ED alleged Harvard “has refused to provide the requested information necessary for OCR to make a compliance determination,” but did not specify which documents were requested or when the university had refused to provide them. Harvard has not yet responded publicly to the letter.

Brionna Bolaños is a Bremond Fellow and a student at Stanford Law School.