WASHINGTON, DC — The US Education Department is threatening to thwart a key college accrediting agency that serves as a “gatekeeper” for $100 billion in student loans and grants if it refuses to permanently nix its DEI standards.
The Middle States Commission on Higher Education — which has bestowed its coveted stamp of approval on instruction offered at Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania and other top higher-education institutions — still has Diversity, Equity and Inclusion standards for applicant schools on its website.
“Accreditors should not be compelling institutions or programs to violate federal or state law — especially regarding discrimination,” said Adam Kissel, who serves on the Education Department’s National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity, to The Post.
Under-Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent wrote a letter to MSCHE on Monday citing an internal department meeting in December 2025 where members of Kissel’s group outlined their concerns over the issue — and threatened to push to hold the accrediting body in noncompliance.
Some members suggested MSCHE’s continued DEI stance may be in violation of the 2023 US Supreme Court decision against Harvard University’s race-based admissions practices.
One NACIQI member noted that most university officials he’s talked with have shared stories anecdotally about accrediting agencies still “pushing DEI” on them after the high court’s decision.
“MSCHE is responsible for ensuring that, until the agency permanently removes its DEI-related standards, it continues to refrain from implementing or enforcing such standards,” Kent wrote to MSCHE President Heather Perfetti.
“If the agency were found to be applying suspended DEI standards to one or more institutions, such action could constitute noncompliance. Such a finding could lead to the denial, limitation, suspension, or termination of the agency’s recognition.”
MSCHE still has guiding principles that “take racial diversity into account,” Kent noted, citing a requirement that stated, “One goal of DEI reflection would be to address disparate impacts on an increasingly diverse student population if discovered.”
Kissel told The Post of MSCHE, “They require reflection on campus-wide DEI, including addressing disparate impact, which suggested to me an interest in requiring treatment of people on the basis of race.
“They put out a statement saying they wouldn’t enforce their standards, but that shouldn’t be enough long term.”
The Education Department has demanded that MSCHE now submit two monitoring reports — six months from March 16 and one year later — explaining what it has done to eliminate its DEI standards.
MSCHE and other independent accrediting agencies help the government approve universities and colleges for tens of billions of dollars in student loan funding and Pell Grants.
President Trump signed an April 2025 executive order aimed at reforming such accrediting agencies, accusing them of having “failed” by approving “low-quality” institutions of higher education.
The president’s order noted how just 64% of undergraduates were completing their degrees within six years.
The White House also cited DEI standards as being the norm for schools approved by the main accrediting bodies dealing with doctors and lawyers.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon was tasked as a result with holding accrediting agencies accountable by investigating, suspending or potentially revoking federal recognition for any that don’t follow federal discrimination laws by promoting DEI.
