In a powerful escalation of the feud that the Trump administration is carrying out against elite universities, it has notified Columbia University’s accreditor that the school fails to meet accreditation standards, citing violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a letter that the Ivy League institution acted “with deliberate indifference toward the harassment of Jewish students”, particularly in response to pro-Palestinian protests on campus.
The letter urges The Middle States Commission on Higher Education, Columbia’s accreditor, to revoke the university’s accreditation. The letter went on to state that, “Accreditors have an enormous public responsibility as gatekeepers of federal student aid,” calling Columbia’s actions “immoral” and “unlawful”.
While the move is not unprecedented, it is indeed rare and carries severe consequences for the institution and the students. For one thing, losing accreditation would mean Columbia loses access to federal student loans and Pell Grants, making tuition unaffordable for many students. The Trump administration has already paused $400 million in federal funding to Columbia, affecting research and faculty employment.
Columbia previously agreed to reform elements of its teaching, hiring, and admissions practices in order to comply with the demands and avoid losing funding, but the administration has not only not restored funding, it has increased the pressure and raised the stakes.
In response, the university has stated that it is committed to combating antisemitism and is working with the federal government to address concerns.
If Columbia should lose accreditation, the consequences on the students could be devastating. Credits from an unaccredited university may not be accepted by other institutions, making it difficult for students to transfer. Indeed, the value of a degree from an unaccredited university is highly questionable and would certainly hinder the graduate’s ability to find good employment, as employers and graduate schools may not even recognize degrees from an unaccredited institution. As a result, the university could face lawsuits from students who would see their career prospects diminished.
Nor would the faculty escape dire consequences. With funding paused, and losing accreditation, they would essentially be cut off from additional research grants. Most likely, this would lead to an exodus of faculty members. Impact on the University’s reputation could be catastrophic. Columbia’s Ivy League status would be severely impacted, perhaps even curtailed.
McMahon’s letter was implicitly a message to other universities—notably Harvard—that “The Department has an obligation to promptly provide accreditors with any noncompliance findings related to member institutions”. Harvard University, the queen of the Ivy Leagues, may be next in line for the threat of discreditation.
It remains to be seen how far Columbia is willing to go to withstand the pressure to change.
