The Education Department under President Trump has spent the past year rolling back diversity, equity and inclusion programs and enforcing biology-based sex definitions across schools and colleges, claiming a string of policy wins that include changes at universities, hospitals, testing programs and athletic rules.
The administration reports more than 300 colleges and universities have dismantled formal DEI structures, and dozens more have removed DEI messaging from websites or hiring practices. Officials say at least 175 institutions restructured or closed DEI offices, about 95 removed or renamed DEI positions, and over a half dozen abandoned racially segregated graduation ceremonies. The College Board also revised its National Recognition Program after officials concluded it had favored certain racial groups.
One high-profile resolution involved the University of Pennsylvania after an Education Department Title IX finding. The agreement demanded restoration of individual women’s swimming records and titles, a public compliance statement, adoption of biology-based definitions of “male” and “female” and personalized apology letters to affected female swimmers, a move that removed a national title from a transgender athlete in the record books.
“From day one, President Trump and Secretary McMahon vowed to protect women and girls, and today’s agreement with UPenn is a historic display of that promise being fulfilled. This administration does not just pay lip service to women’s equality: it vigorously insists on that equality being upheld,” said Riley Gaines, the former University of Kentucky swimmer who competed against Thomas. “It is my hope that today demonstrates to educational institutions that they will no longer be allowed to trample upon women’s civil rights, and renews hope in every female athlete that their country’s highest leadership will not relent until they have the dignity, safety, and fairness they deserve.”
The department has also taken aim at school privacy practices, finding the California Department of Education in continued violation of FERPA for concealing student records from parents. That enforcement coincided with a Supreme Court move siding with parents challenging state rules that let staff hide gender transitions from families, with the court bluntly warning that schools should not cut parents out of key decisions about their children.
“Gender dysphoria is a condition that has an important bearing on a child’s mental health, but when a child exhibits symptoms of gender dysphoria at school, California’s policies conceal that information from parents and facilitate a degree of gender transitioning during school hours,” the court’s decision read. “These policies likely violate parents’ rights to direct the upbringing and education of their children.”
On health policy, the department highlighted that at least 20 university-affiliated hospitals have halted puberty blockers, hormone therapies or gender transition surgeries for minors, reflecting broader concern about experimental treatments for children. The shift away from pediatric gender care at major medical centers marks a substantive change in how institutions consider long-term impacts for young patients.
Local school districts were also nudged back toward biology-based policies after enforcement actions. In Jefferson County, Colorado, officials agreed to rescind or rewrite rules that had allowed male students to use female bathrooms, share overnight housing or compete on female teams, and to post a public commitment to Title IX compliance that uses biology-based definitions of sex.
The Education Department pursued cases involving partnerships it viewed as racially exclusionary as well, securing 31 resolution agreements with colleges that had collaborated with an organization whose eligibility rules were judged to unlawfully limit participation by race. Federal investigators said such partnerships violated Title VI by discriminating, prompting institutions to change how they recruit and support doctoral candidates.
On athletics, national governing bodies and leagues moved to tighten eligibility rules for women’s competition. In February 2025 the NCAA limited the women’s category to student-athletes assigned female at birth, while allowing those assigned male at birth to practice with women’s teams but not compete, a policy change that took effect immediately and aimed to protect fair competition for biological women.
The administration framed these actions as a cultural reset for higher education, arguing that too many campuses put ideology ahead of academic standards and merit. “Just over a year ago, we saw men claiming victories in women’s athletics. Colleges and universities were focused more on diversity, equity, and inclusion than ensuring graduates were prepared for success in life after graduation,” a presidential fact sheet stated.
“Institutions required DEI statements from faculty and held segregated affinity graduation ceremonies for students. Academic standards fell, admissions were skewed to favor race over merit, and students graduated with a massive pile of debt and degrees that led to no job prospects,” the sheet continues. “Today, institutions of higher education are changing the game because President Trump is bringing back America’s Golden Age — shifting the culture and restoring our nation’s institutions to greatness.”
