New State Laws Target DEI, Struggling Academic Programs, and Tenure

HEADLINES

New State Laws Target DEI, Struggling Academic Programs, and Tenure (Chronicle of Higher Education, May 5, 2025) Republican governors have signed into law a wave of legislation targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, tenure, and struggling academic programs as part of a concerted effort to remake the landscape of higher education. For example, lawmakers in Arkansas passed the ACCESS Act, which forbids public colleges from requiring diversity statements and prohibits higher-education accreditors from collecting information from the state’s public colleges related to DEI, or basing an accreditation decision on reviews of DEI.

Education Dept. Moves to Make It Easier for Colleges to Switch Accreditors (Chronicle of Higher Education, May 1, 2025) The Education Department announced last Thursday that it is streamlining the process through which colleges can move from one accreditor to another, even for some colleges that are at risk of losing accreditation from their current accreditor. But the department was taking a year in some cases to approve requests to change accreditors, said Jan Friis, senior vice president for government affairs at the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. Friis said the association supports giving colleges more control over choosing an accreditor, and in fact had proposed some of the changes announced today to the Trump transition team.

SACSCOC Names Dr. Stephen L. Pruitt Its New President (Diverse Education, May 1, 2025) The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) has elected Dr. Stephen L. Pruitt as its next president, the accrediting organization announced last week. Pruitt, who currently serves as president of the Southern Regional Education Board, will replace Dr. Belle S. Wheelan, who is retiring after 20 years leading the accreditation body. He will officially assume the role on August 1, 2025.

Trump Admin Threatens Colleges’ Accreditation Over Diversity (MSNBC.com, April 28, 2025) The accreditation Executive Order seems ripe for a legal challenge if put into practice. Basically, it claims Trump’s administration has the power to punish accreditation organizations — “including through denial, monitoring, suspension, or termination of accreditation recognition” — if they require colleges to participate in diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, which the administration falsely categorizes as “unlawful discrimination.” The order specifically instructs the attorney general and the education secretary to similarly investigate whether to pull recognition from accreditors such as the American Bar Association — which accredits law schools — or top accreditors for medical schools over “unlawful” DEI requirements.