President Donald Trump targeted university legal judges in an executive order signed on Wednesday that investigated two certification bodies and suggested others could lose federal accreditation altogether.
The order was one of seven on Wednesday when Trump approached the end of his first 100 days. Others directed the education department to enforce the law, requiring universities to disclose some foreign gifts and contracts designed to support historically black colleges and universities, and outlined some policy changes to K-12 schools. Under the certification order and other orders, Trump and White House officials believe they are re-tuning the education system about elite management.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon made her follow-up statement by signing in the Oval Office, passing a complimentary certification order and saying it would “bring a long-term change” and “create a competitive market.”
“The U.S. certification system for higher education is broken,” she wrote. “ Rather than pushing schools to adopt a separatist ideology, focus should be on helping schools improve graduation rates and graduates’ performance in the labor market.”
Some direct and public reactions from senior emergency departments criticized the certification order, saying it was another attempt to take more power into the hands of the president and threaten academic freedom.
The Council of Higher Education’s Accreditation Council said Trump’s instructions would “affect the value and independence of certification” while the American Association of University Professors said it would “delete[e] Educators and reshaping educational decisions[e] Higher education fits in the political agenda of authoritarianism. ”
Overhaul certification
Rumors say the certification order may be the most anticipated order signed on Wednesday, and it could have broad implications as Trump tries to review and reform the system.
Historically, acknowledging people operate under radar and paying little attention to the public, but in recent years, conservatives have focused on institutions and their role in keeping universities accountable. (Accreditors do have a lot of power because they must be recognized by federally accredited institutions to obtain federal student aid.)
During the presidential campaign, Trump himself claimed to have certified his “secret weapon” to reform him and accused the endorsement of failing to “make sure schools don’t deprive students and taxpayers.”
According to the White House fact sheet, the order requires McMahon to suspend or terminate federal endorsement of a concedor to make it violate federal civil rights laws to hold him responsible. The executive order explicitly states that requiring agencies to “do illegally discriminate in certification-related activities under the guise of “diversity, equity and inclusion” will be considered a violation of the law.
The order also points to the American Bar Association that accredits law schools and has obtained the Medical Education Board of Accredited Medical Schools and directs the Cabinet Secretary to conduct an investigation. (The American Bar Association, like some other accreditors, suspended its members’ DEI standards in February.)
Besides that, McMahon’s mission is to “re-certify the principle of student-centeredness.” This may include recognizing new recognition, prioritizing intellectual diversity among teachers, and the need for “high-quality, high-value academic courses”, although the fact sheet does not state how to measure this.
White House clerk secretary Will Scharf said at the event that recognizers rely on “awakening ideology” rather than recognizing universities. He did not provide evidence for his claims, but the profile cited the country’s six-year undergraduate graduation rate at 64%, an example of how acknowledged “cannot ensure quality.”
“The basic idea is to force certification to focus on the advantages and actual results these universities offer, rather than how they awaken them,” Scharf said.
The Trump administration also hopes to simplify the process in recognition of qualified and institutions changing institutions. Some states that require their public universities to change their accreditors claim the Biden administration has made the process too troublesome.
Schaff said the order charged the education department “a real overall view and hopefully makes things better.”
Trump hasn’t said much about the order or what action he hopes to see McMahon take.
Execute foreign gifts
The president is not the first administration official to try to limit the impact of foreign countries on American universities and universities this year.
The House recently passed a bill called the Deterrence Act, which would amend Section 117 of the Higher Education Act to lower the threshold for reporting foreign gifts from $250,000 to $50,000. It also requires disclosure of all gifts from countries like “China and Russia”, regardless of the amount. The legislation was promoted to the Senate in late March after a 241-169 vote.
Michigan Republican and committee chairman Tim Walberg praised Trump’s actions Wednesday, saying he “stressed” Republicans’ commitment to “promoting transparency.”
“Foreign entities like the Chinese Communist Party anonymously pooled billions of dollars to U.S. higher education institutions, exploring these links to steal research, inculcate students and transform our schools into beachheads of a new era of information warfare,” Wahlberg wrote in a statement shortly after Trump’s order. “I’m glad the Trump administration understands the serious importance of this threat, and I look forward to working with President Trump to protect our students and maintain the integrity of the U.S. higher education system.”
For years, college compliance with Section 117 has been a key issue for Republicans. House members have repeatedly criticized the Biden administration’s efforts to enforce the law, but former Education Secretary Miguel Cardona defended his institution’s actions. They also tried to pass Acts of Deterrence through the last meeting, but were blocked by Senate Democrats.
The executive order is broader than Acts of Deterrence, except instructing McMahon to work with other departments in appropriate places and to revoke or revoke any Biden action, i.e. “Allow higher education institutions to maintain improper confidentiality.”
More support for HBCUs
Another order created an initiative within the White House focusing on historic black colleges and revoked a biden executive order titled “The White House Initiative aims to promote educational equity, excellence and economic opportunity through historically black colleges and universities.”
In his first semester, Trump moved the Department of Education’s HBCU initiative to the White House, a largely symbolic gesture to express his support for black colleges. The initiative continues under Joe Biden, although the program has returned to the education department. Biden also formulated initiatives focused on Hispanic service agencies and tribal colleges. Trump ended his new plan in his first week of office.
The executive order also established the Presidential HBCU Advisory Board at the Ministry of Education, which appears to have existed. The group met for the last time in January. Federal Gazette Notice.
Schaff said the order would ensure that the HBCU “can do the job as efficiently as possible.”
