The Trump administration said Wednesday that it has notified the accreditor for Columbia University that the school violated federal anti-discrimination laws, threatening the university’s accreditation status by saying it “no longer appears to meet the Commissions accreditation standards.”
The Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights “determined that Columbia University acted with deliberate indifference towards the harassment of Jewish students, thereby violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” the Education Department said in a statement.
After an investigation that began in February, the departments found Columbia “failed to meaningfully protect Jewish students against severe and pervasive harassment on Columbia’s campus and consequently denied these students’ equal access to educational opportunities to which they are entitled under the law,” the Education Department said.
The Trump administration said the Ivy League university has been in violation since the war in the Middle East began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists invaded Israel, killing more than 1,200 people and taking hundreds more hostage. Israel’s retaliation on the Gaza Strip has killed more than 54,000 people.
Columbia said in a statement that it is “aware of the concerns raised by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights today” and that it has “addressed those concerns directly” with its accreditor.
“Columbia is deeply committed to combating antisemitism on our campus. We take this issue seriously and are continuing to work with the federal government to address it,” it said.
The government said Wednesday that the school is now in violation of the standards set by Middle States Commission on Higher Education, Columbia’s accreditor, which require that “a candidate or accredited institution possesses or demonstrates … compliance with all applicable government laws and regulations.”
“In light of OCR’s determination, Columbia University no longer appears to meet the Commission’s accreditation standards,” the Education Department said.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement that Columbia has “acted with deliberate indifference towards the harassment of Jewish students on its campus” since Oct. 7, 2023, calling the school’s actions “immoral” and “unlawful.”
McMahon said the department will work with the accreditor “to ensure Columbia’s compliance with accreditation standards including compliance with federal civil rights laws.”
The notification comes on the heels of a tumultuous spring for Columbia and the Trump administration.
In March, the administration canceled millions of dollars in funding, accusing the Ivy League school of “inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students.”
In response, Columbia acceded to the Trump administration’s demands to restore the funding, paving the way for negotiations to reinstate the federal dollars that typically fund medical and scientific research projects at the school.
The school was working to restore the funding in May, even after it had agreed to the administration’s demands, and it said it had to cut 180 staffers whose jobs are funded by the federal grants.
At the time, Columbia’s acting president, Claire Shipman, said the school was continuing its talks with the government “in support of resuming activity on these research awards and additional other awards that have remained active, but unpaid.”
The back-and-forth between the school and the government didn’t stop students from protesting the war on campus in May in efforts that echoed last year’s encampments.
The Education Department said in its release Wednesday that accreditors must notify their universities if they have been made aware that one of their schools isn’t complying with federal law and should establish plans to right those wrongs, adding that if a school “fails to come into compliance within a specified period, an accreditor must take appropriate action against its member institution.”
The government didn’t provide any further details about a timeline or necessary actions.
If Columbia loses its accreditation — which would lead to its losing access to student aid funds — it most likely won’t happen immediately.
The Middle States Commission on Higher Education, according to its own policies, will set up a time to review evidence with Columbia officials before it makes any decision. In response, the school will probably try to demonstrate to the accreditor what it is doing to comply with federal law, and the accreditor will determine whether the efforts are sufficient.
Columbia is simultaneously engaged in finding a resolution with the federal government on the issues, meaning there is likely to be overlap in the policies Columbia changes to satisfy the accreditation standards and the federal antisemitism investigations.
Colleges are found out of compliance with civil rights laws regularly by both Democratic and Republican administrations, but it’s exceedingly rare to lose accreditation over it, because they usually reach resolutions with the government to come into compliance.
Rawan Abbasi, assistant director for communications for the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, said the accreditor is “aware of the press release issued today by the United States Department of Education (USDE) regarding Columbia University and can confirm that we received a letter regarding this matter this afternoon” but declined to comment further.