By Kritika Agarwal
On April 23, President Trump signed seven new executive orders, including some related to higher education:
Reforming Accreditation to Strengthen Higher Education: This order directs the education secretary to suspend or terminate accreditors’ ability to provide accreditation to colleges and universities if they require institutions to “engage in unlawful discrimination in accreditation-related activity under the guise of ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ initiatives.”
Colleges and universities are required to be accredited by accrediting agencies recognized by the federal government in order to receive federal funds and in order for their students to be eligible to receive federal financial aid. The executive order also directs the education secretary to recognize new accreditors and to realign accreditation so that the process, among other things, requires institutions to “advance credential and degree completion;” “prioritize intellectual diversity amongst faculty;” and improve student outcomes “without reference to race, ethnicity, or sex.”
A White House fact sheet on the order is available here; Education Secretary Linda McMahon’s statement on the order is available here.
Transparency Regarding Foreign Influence at American Universities: This order directs the education secretary to require institutions of higher education to fully disclose any foreign funding in a timely manner.
It also directs the education secretary to require “universities to disclose the true source and purpose of foreign funds;” to “provide the American people with greater access to general information about foreign funding of higher education institutions;” and to “hold non-compliant institutions accountable through audits, investigations, and enforcement actions.” According to the order, universities that do not comply with foreign funding disclosure requirements could lose access to federal funds. A White House fact sheet on the order is available here.
Preparing Americans for High-Paying Skilled Trade Jobs of the Future: This order directs the secretary of labor, the secretary of commerce, and the secretary of education to review all federal workforce development programs and ensure they are addressing critical workforce needs. Among other things, the order requires the secretaries “to identify alternative credentials and assessments to the 4-year college degree that can be mapped to the specific skill needs of prospective employers.” A White House fact sheet on the order is available here.
The president also signed orders to “promote AI literacy and proficiency among Americans” and to establish a White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
Kritika Agarwal is senior editorial officer at AAU.