Education Dept. threatens Columbia University’s accreditation
The Training Division mentioned Wednesday that Columbia College has violated federal antidiscrimination legal guidelines and has due to this fact failed to fulfill accreditation requirements.The division's civil rights workplace notified the Center States Fee on Larger Training — which accredits U.S. schools and universities — that Columbia was out of compliance, based on a information …
The Training Division mentioned Wednesday that Columbia College has violated federal antidiscrimination legal guidelines and has due to this fact failed to fulfill accreditation requirements.
The division’s civil rights workplace notified the Center States Fee on Larger Training — which accredits U.S. schools and universities — that Columbia was out of compliance, based on a information launch from the Training Division.
The division, citing President Trump’s govt order on accreditation requirements, accused the college’s leaders of failing to deal with antisemitism on campus after the Oct. 7 assault in opposition to Israel by Hamas.
After Hamas’ October 7, 2023, terror assault on Israel, Columbia College’s management acted with deliberate indifference in direction of the harassment of Jewish college students on its campus,” Training Secretary Linda McMahon mentioned within the launch.
She famous that the accreditation fee has “an infinite public duty as gatekeepers of federal scholar assist,” they usually “decide which establishments are eligible for federal scholar loans and Pell Grants.” Dropping its accreditation would imply that Columbia could be ineligible to supply federal monetary assist to college students attending the college.
“In gentle of OCR’s dedication, Columbia College now not seems to fulfill the Fee’s accreditation requirements,” the division launch mentioned.
A Columbia spokesperson advised CBS Information the varsity is conscious of the Division of Training’s issues and has “addressed these issues instantly with Center States,” referring to its accreditor. The spokesperson additionally mentioned the varsity is “deeply dedicated to combating antisemitism on our campus” and is “persevering with to work with the federal authorities to deal with it.
The accreditation group confirmed to CBS Information it obtained a letter Wednesday on the Division of Training’s points with Columbia, however didn’t remark additional.
Final month, the civil rights workplaces of the Training Division and Division of Well being and Human Providers decided that Columbia had “didn’t meaningfully defend Jewish college students in opposition to extreme and pervasive harassment on Columbia’s campus and consequently denied these college students’ equal entry to instructional alternatives to which they’re entitled below the regulation.”
This can be a creating story and will probably be up to date.