Trump Administration Threatens Columbia University’s Accreditation

The Department of Education put out a press release today announcing that Columbia University is in violation of anti-discrimination laws and therefore fails to meet standards for accreditation.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) today notified Middle States Commission on Higher Education (the Commission) that its member institution, Columbia University, is in violation of federal antidiscrimination laws and therefore fails to meet the standards for accreditation set by the Commission. Pursuant to President Trump’s Executive Order, Reforming Accreditation to Strengthen Higher Education, the Department has an obligation to promptly provide accreditors with any noncompliance findings related to member institutions. 

The Commission’s “Standards for Accreditation and Requirements of Affiliation” state that “a candidate or accredited institution possesses or demonstrates … compliance with all applicable government laws and regulations.” In light of OCR’s determination, Columbia University no longer appears to meet the Commission’s accreditation standards…

On May 22, 2025, the Department of Education’s OCR and the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (HHS OCR) determined that Columbia University acted with deliberate indifference towards the harassment of Jewish students, thereby violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Specifically, OCR and HHS OCR found that Columbia failed to meaningfully protect Jewish students against severe and pervasive harassment on Columbia’s campus and consequently denied these students’ equal access to educational opportunities to which they are entitled under the law.

Sec. McMahon added a statement saying the school’s failure began after Oct. 7, 2023.

Education Secretary Linda McMahon, in a statement, said, “After Hamas’ October 7, 2023, terror attack on Israel, Columbia University’s leadership acted with deliberate indifference towards the harassment of Jewish students on its campus.”

“This is not only immoral, but also unlawful,” McMahon said.

“Accreditors have an enormous public responsibility as gatekeepers of federal student aid. They determine which institutions are eligible for federal student loans and Pell Grants,” she said.

So what happens now? Well, probably nothing will happen immediately but as suggested by Sec. McMahon, loss of accreditation would mean Columbia was not eligible for federal student aid which could severely threaten their ability to attract students. But there are a lot of hoops to jump through before we get to that point.

If Columbia loses its accreditation — which would lead to its losing access to student aid funds — it most likely won’t happen immediately.

The Middle States Commission on Higher Education, according to its own policies, will set up a time to review evidence with Columbia officials before it makes any decision. In response, the school will probably try to demonstrate to the accreditor what it is doing to comply with federal law, and the accreditor will determine whether the efforts are sufficient…

Colleges are found out of compliance with civil rights laws regularly by both Democratic and Republican administrations, but it’s exceedingly rare to lose accreditation over it, because they usually reach resolutions with the government to come into compliance.

Columbia has only said it’s aware of the press release and is addressing it.

A Columbia spokesperson said that the university, whose campus is in upper Manhattan, “is aware of the concerns raised by” the department to its accreditor, “and we have addressed those concerns directly with Middle States.

“Columbia is deeply committed to combating antisemitism on our campus,” the spokesperson said. “We take this issue seriously and are continuing to work with the federal government to address it.”

I think the bottom line here is that this is one more maneuver the federal government has to twist arms at universities accepting federal money. Losing accreditation would be a major blow to any school so Columbia is going to do whatever it can to avoid that outcome. In other words, they are going to become even more agreeable to demands made by the Trump Education department.

And no doubt Harvard is watching all of this and realizing their situation could continue to get worse. We’ll have to see what impact it has but it seems likely many schools will do whatever is necessary from becoming the next Columbia U.