The Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights opened an investigation yesterday into five universities for scholarships geared toward undocumented immigrants. The federal government believes the awards violate a Title IV statute against national origin discrimination.
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The scholarships in question aimed to provide financial assistance in undergraduate programs for undocumented students, who are ineligible for federal financial aid. Program eligibility also extended to students protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which provides undocumented children born in the U.S. with temporary protection from deportation.
Here are the five universities under investigation:
- University of Miami: The U Dreamers Program was established to help all admitted students meet 100% of their demonstrated financial need.
- University of Michigan: The Dreamer Scholarship offers flexible assistance to help students continue their studies.
- Western Michigan University: The Undocumented Student Scholarship Program offers a limited number of privately funded scholarships.
- University of Nebraska Omaha: The Dreamer’s Pathway Scholarship offered renewable, full-tuition, fee and book coverage up to five years. (Note: The website has been removed.)
- University of Louisville: The Sagar Patagundi Scholarship subsidized “the cost of higher education…for undergraduate DACA and undocumented students,” according to the Education Department press release. A link to the scholarship wasn’t found.
This is not the first time the Department of Education has probed university scholarships for potentially discriminatory scholarships. The Office of Civil Rights placed 50 institutions under investigation in March for their partnership with a nonprofit aimed at boosting minority representation in postdoctoral programs.
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“At the Equal Protection Project, we are gratified that the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights is acting on our complaints regarding scholarships that excluded American-born students,” said William A. Jacobson, founder of the Equal Protection Project, which submitted the complaint launching the federal investigation. “Discrimination against American-born students must not be tolerated.”
