Ed. Dept. Scraps “Unconstitutional” Race Preferences In Federal PhD Grant Program

Authored by Jennifer Kabbany via The College Fix,

The U.S. Department of Education has agreed to rewrite the exclusionary race-based eligibility rules of a federal student scholarship program, resolving a lawsuit filed against the program.

“That means the McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program–a federal program distributing roughly $60 million annually to help students pursue graduate education–will no longer discriminate based on race,” stated Young America’s Foundation, which had sued the Biden administration in 2024 over the program.

The lawsuit had alleged the program excluded Asians, Arabs, Middle Easterners, non-Hispanic Latinos, some Africans, and whites unless they meet a limited exception for first-generation low-income students.

Instead, it supported primarily black, Native American and Pacific Islander students, according to the complaint.

“The McNair Program’s race-based provisions are unconstitutional, should not and will not be enforced, and are subject to a planned forthcoming regulatory change to rescind the race-based criteria,” according to YAF’s Feb. 17 motion to dismiss, with which the Education Department agreed to by not objecting.

U.S. Department of Education press secretary for higher education Ellen Keast confirmed the changes in a statement to Fox News:

“Consistent with the Department of Justice opinion, the Department of Education has agreed not to implement the racially discriminatory aspects of the McNair program, and we plan to make corresponding changes to our regulations.”

The lawsuit was filed by the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty on behalf of Young America’s Foundation and its members Benjamin Rothove, a University of Wisconsin-Madison student and reporter for The College Fix, and Avery Durfee, a University of North Dakota student.

“For years, the McNair Program operated under federal rules that explicitly favored certain racial groups while excluding others–including students who were white, Asian, Middle Eastern, Jewish, and more–simply because of their skin color,” YAF stated in an X post Thursday.

“This is another victory for equal treatment under the law, and a reminder that Americans don’t have to accept unconstitutional discrimination just because it’s dressed up as ‘equity.’”