Policy Alert: April Executive Orders Impacting Higher Education

Action: Executive Orders "Reforming Accreditation to Strengthen Higher Education,” “Transparency Regarding Foreign Influence at American Universities,” and “White House Initiative to Promote Excellence and Innovation at Historically Black Colleges and Universities”

On April 23, the President issued three Executive Orders that target the higher education sector. Reforming Accreditation to Strengthen Higher Education directs the Secretary of Education to realign accreditation principles to exclude priorities around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI); recognize new accreditors and ease the process for higher education institutions to change accreditors; and establish a new quality assurance pathway for higher education institutions. Transparency Regarding Foreign Influence at American Universities calls on the Secretary of Education to enforce section 1011f of title 20 of the US Code to ensure full disclosure by institutions of higher education of foreign funding. The White House Initiative to Promote Excellence and Innovation at Historically Black Colleges and Universities replaces an existing initiative established by President Biden with a more condensed version.

Key Insights

Reforming Accreditation to Strengthen Higher Education

• The Secretary of Education is instructed to consider "denial, monitoring, suspension, or termination of accreditation recognition" for accreditors engaged in DEI initiatives. The executive order targets the DEI activities of the American Bar Association Council, the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, directing Cabinet members with jurisdiction over each body to investigate and potentially terminate their status as an accrediting agency.
• The Order references unfavorable higher education outcomes such as a declining graduation rate and rising student debt. It also charges that "accreditors have remained improperly focused on compelling adoption of discriminatory ideology, rather than on student outcomes."
• As with previous Executive Orders that challenge DEI efforts, the Order classifies DEI-based standards upheld by accreditors as "unlawfully discriminatory practices," citing the Supreme Court's decision in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College (which did not address the issue of accreditation)

Transparency Regarding Foreign Influence at American Universities

• Current law requires institutions of higher education to report foreign gifts, contracts, or funding valued at $250,000 or more to the Secretary of Education. On March 27, the House of Representatives passed the Deterrent Act to lower the reporting threshold to $50,000 in general and $0 for "countries of concern" including China.
• On February 19, 2025, the Chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, along with the former Chair of the House Committee Education and the Workforce, sent a letter to the Acting Secretary of Education requesting information on the Department's enforcement of the law. The letter also alleged that enforcement efforts had been rolled back under President Biden's administration.
• The Order establishes compliance with foreign funding disclosure as a condition for receiving Federal funding.

White House Initiative to Promote Excellence and Innovation at HBCUs

• The order follows a nearly half century precedent of executive action toward Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and a legal requirement for a President's Board of Advisors on HBCUs established in 2020 through the HBCU PARTNERS Act.
• The order rescinds President Biden's action on the initiative, omitting language on equity while promoting an increased private-sector role and advancing the Administration's innovation and excellence priorities.