(The Center Square) – Five universities across the nation face investigations from the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights for potentially discriminating on the basis of national origin in the DACA-only scholarships and programs they offer.
The University of Louisville, the University of Nebraska Omaha, the University of Miami, the University of Michigan, and Western Michigan University are those facing the national origin discrimination investigations, according to the Department of Education.
The investigations “will determine whether these universities are granting scholarships only for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) or ‘undocumented’ students, in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964’s (Title VI) prohibition against national origin discrimination,” a news release said.
University of Michigan director of public affairs Kay Jarvis told The Center Square: “The university has received a letter of notification relating to this matter. We have no further comment.”
Interim VP of communications and marketing at the University of Louisville John Karman similarly told The Center Square that, “the university was just notified of the investigation on Tuesday.”
“We are reviewing the claims,” Karman said.
None of the other three universities have yet responded to The Center Square’s request for comment, and neither has the Department of Education.
According to complaints submitted by the Legal Insurrection Foundation’s Equal Protection Project to the Department of Education, the University of Louisville offers the Sagar Patagundi Scholarship to “subsidize the cost of higher education … for undergraduate DACA and undocumented students,” the release said.
The University of Nebraska Omaha offers a Dreamer’s Pathway Scholarship for “students who are DACA or DACA-eligible and Nebraska residents who are seeking an undergraduate degree,” the release said.
Meanwhile, the U Dreamers Program at the University of Miami “is available to academically talented and admissible [DACA] and undocumented high school seniors and transfer students,” the release said.
The University of Michigan has a Dreamer Scholarship that “is intended to support undocumented students or students with DACA status.”
Lastly, Western Michigan University offers the WMU Undocumented/DACA Scholarship “for undergraduate students who are ineligible to receive federal student aid due to an undocumented or DACA status.”
“Discrimination against American-born students must not be tolerated,” founder of the Equal Protection Project William A. Jacobson said in the department’s release.
“Protecting equal access to education includes protecting the rights of American-born students,” Jacobson said.
“At the Equal Protection Project, we are gratified that the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights is acting on our complaints regarding scholarships that excluded American-born students,” Jacobson said.
Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor said in the release that “neither the Trump Administration’s America first policies nor the Civil Rights Act of 1964’s prohibition on national origin discrimination permit universities to deny our fellow citizens the opportunity to compete for scholarships because they were born in the United States.”
“On January 20, 2025, President Trump promised that ‘every single day of the Trump Administration, [he] will, very simply, put America first,’” Trainor said.
“As we mark President Trump’s historic six months back in the White House, we are expanding our enforcement efforts to protect American students and lawful residents from invidious national origin discrimination of the kind alleged here,” Trainor said.
In addition to investigating discrimination based on national origin, the investigations will examine other scholarships at the universities of Louisville, Nebraska Omaha, and Western Michigan “that appear to exclude students based on other aspects of Title VI, including race and color.”
