On Feb. 14, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights issued a “Dear Colleague” Letter providing compliance guidelines to educational institutions receiving federal funding and subject to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The requirements follow the framework set by the Supreme Court in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College (SFFA). While SFFA held that race conscious college admission practices are impermissible, the Dear Colleague Letter explains that the SFFA holding applies “more broadly”: federal law also “prohibits covered entities from using race in decisions pertaining to admissions, hiring, promotion, compensation, financial aid, scholarships, prizes, administrative support, discipline, housing, graduation ceremonies and all other aspects of student, academic and campus life.” Dear Colleague Letter, Page 2. Educational institutions receiving federal funding “may not separate or segregate students based on race, nor distribute benefits or burdens based on race.”
Programs deemed impermissible under the guidelines include those that are “neutral on their face” but are nevertheless “motivated by racial considerations.” The letter states that an institution violates the law when it utilizes “non-racial information as a proxy for race” and makes a decision based on that information.
The letter mentions various practices which would be considered violations of Title VI, including, but not limited to:
- Using “students’ personal essays, writing samples, participation in extracurriculars, or other cues as a means of determining or predicting a student’s race and favoring or disfavoring such students.”
- Eliminating standardized testing if done “to achieve a desired racial balance or to increase racial diversity.”
- DEI programs which “preference certain racial groups” and “stigmatize students who belong to particular racial groups.”
While it is still unclear what exactly enforcement will look like, enforcement of the department’s guidelines as set forth in the Dear Colleague Letter is set to begin within 14 days of the issuance of the letter, or on or about March 1, 2025.
In the meantime, the Dear Colleague Letter advises educational institutions to:
- Ensure their policies and actions comply with existing federal law.
- Cease all efforts to circumvent prohibitions on the use of race by relying on proxies or other indirect means to accomplish such ends.
- Cease all reliance on third-party contractors, clearinghouses or aggregators that are being used by institutions in an effort to circumvent prohibited uses of race.
Failure to comply with federal civil rights laws may result in loss of federal funding. Additional legal guidance on these matters is expected.
