Washington, DC: According to The Hill, US President Donald Trump issued a new executive order on Wednesday that specifically targeted the college accrediting process. Universities must complete the college accreditation procedure in order to be eligible for federal financial assistance.

“University accreditation is currently a process controlled by a number of third-party organizations that are, by statute, by law,” said White House staff secretary Will Scharf. Instead of certifying colleges on the basis of performance and quality, many of those third-party accreditors have relied on a kind of awakened ideology.

The text of the executive order has not yet been released. Nonetheless, according to a Wall Street Journal story, Trump wants to utilize the procedure to eliminate what he views as “ideological overreach” and promote “intellectual diversity” on campus, according to The Hill.

According to the article, the decision would promote more competition in the accreditor market and make it easier for universities to transfer accreditors.

Schools must adhere to a number of standards set by accreditors, including those pertaining to the lessons they provide. Even if student results are poor, relatively few institutions lose their accreditation after it has been obtained.

Emergence of new accreditors is hampered by the protracted government approval procedure. Accreditors dispute claims that they are supporting any particular ideology at universities and see their work as impartial.
In the United States, schools that have prohibited certain diversity, equality, and inclusion initiatives have managed to maintain their accreditor compliance. But after a few years, colleges in North Carolina and Florida must now change accreditors.

In the past, the Biden administration was sued by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis over the college accrediting system. DeSantis said in 2023 that he did not want “to bow to unaccountable accreditors who think they should run Florida’s public universities,” according to The Hill.

Because a loss of accreditation might prevent access to student loans and financial assistance, Trump’s focus on accreditation may increase anxiety in the higher education system. Additionally, by cutting funding for universities, the Trump administration has shown that it is not scared to tamper with university finances.

According to CNN, US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem warned last week to remove Harvard University’s ability to accept international students if it did not provide documents on the “illegal and violent activities” of foreign students.

In a news release issued Wednesday by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Noem “wrote a scathing letter demanding detailed records on Harvard’s foreign student visa holders’ illegal and violent activities by April 30, 2025, or face immediate loss of Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) certification.”

The certification, according to DHS, allows colleges to provide documents to international students who have been accepted so they may apply for visas to enter the United States. In the 2024–25 academic year, 6,793 foreign students attended Harvard University, making up 27.2% of the student body, according to the university’s statistics.

DHS reported on April 16 that two federal grants totaling USD 2.7 million had been canceled for Harvard University. Harvard is aware of the letter, according to a statement from the institution. They firmly maintain, nonetheless, that they “will not surrender their independence or relinquish their constitutional rights.”

CNN quoted The Harvard Crimson, a student publication, as saying that the DHS letter accused Harvard of creating a “hostile learning environment” for Jewish students. The letter continues, “It is a privilege to have foreign students attend Harvard University, not a guarantee.”