Change in Education Department Policies
WASHINGTON — The Education Department has decided not to enforce rules from the Biden administration concerning a federal grant initiative designed to boost the number of underrepresented doctoral students.
The regulations for the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program had led to a lawsuit from the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL), which ultimately dropped the case after coming to an agreement with the Trump administration.
Dan Lennington, managing vice president and deputy general counsel at WILL, mentioned that they anticipated a shift in the administration’s stance and sought assurance that the new position would be implemented. “We knew the Trump administration was going to change their position, so we wanted assurance that they would apply it,” he noted.
“At this moment, they aren’t enforcing rules based on race,” he continued. “As for the actual repeal of this rule, that’s supposed to happen in the next few months. They’ve committed to it.”
WILL, aligned with the conservative Young Americans for Freedom, formally reversed the ruling on Tuesday ahead of a hearing by the St. Louis-based 8th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Two-thirds of the $60 million McNair program—named in honor of NASA’s second black astronaut, who tragically died in the 1986 Challenger explosion—is aimed at supporting low-income, first-generation college students.
The rest of the funding is designated for groups described as “underrepresented” in graduate studies.
However, WILL raised concerns regarding what “underrepresentation” signifies, arguing it seems to focus on black, Hispanic, and Native American students while excluding white or Asian students from the definition.
Since 2021, the right-leaning law firm has been observing the Biden administration tightening various programs that assist “socially disadvantaged populations” and has initiated lawsuits in response. Lennington reflected, “We’ve been working on this issue for five whole years, litigating these programs with great success. This is just like a bonus.”
He added, “The last thing we need to do is let the Trump administration do the work of officially removing the last vestiges of this racism.”
Since taking office last year, President Trump’s administration has endeavored to abolish race-based regulations throughout government structures. He has issued several executive orders to promote this initiative, including one on January 21, 2025, that aimed to “restore competency-based opportunities.”
The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and the Education Department have previously lodged complaints against universities for maintaining racially selective programs.
Lennington explained, “We are now sitting down and actually doing the hard work of removing these deep-seated race-based programs one at a time.”
“We are very pleased with the Trump administration’s commitment to upholding the law and providing equal opportunity for all,” he said.
The Department of Education has not commented on the situation as of yet.
