LOS ANGELES � The U.S. Department of Education has given colleges and schools with race-specific programs � including financial aid and racially themed dormitory floors and graduation ceremonies � until the end of the month to abolish them or risk losing federal funding as educators scrambled over the holiday weekend to interpret the sweeping scope of new guidelines.
The "dear colleague" letter from the department's civil rights division and addressed to K-12-and-higher education leaders lays out a new federal anti-discrimination enforcement policy that extends beyond the use of race in admissions, a practice barred since 2023 by the U.S. Supreme Court.
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