Trump targets college accreditation process in new executive order
By Betsy Klein and Samantha Waldenberg, CNN, 2 minute read, Updated 8:28 PM EDT, Wed April 23, 2025
President Donald Trump signs an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House on March 26, in Washington, DC. Win McNamee/Getty Images
CNN — President Donald Trump took aim at the college accreditation process with a new executive order Wednesday, his latest move to exact control over America’s higher education institutions.
The order, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, targets the federal government’s process for deciding what colleges and universities can access billions of dollars in federal student loans and Pell grants – a significant source of indirect revenue for many of those institutions.
The executive order asks the secretary of education to “hold higher education accreditors accountable including through denial, monitoring, suspension, or termination for poor performance or violations to the federal Civil Rights Act,” a White House official told CNN ahead of the signing.
It also “directs the attorney general and the secretary of education to investigate and terminate unlawful discrimination by American higher education institutions, including law schools and medical schools,” the official said.Education Secretary Linda McMahon pointed to the idea that universities be a “meritocracy” – a theme the White House often stresses to as they attempt to take aim at diversity, equity and inclusion in education and the workforce.
