The University of Miami is one of five universities being investigated by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights for allegedly violating federal civil rights laws in awarding scholarships to academically eligible students lacking permanent legal status.
In a press release announcing the investigation the DOE specifically identified UM’s “U Dreamers Program.”
The University of Miami did not immediately respond to the Florida Phoenix’s request for comment.
The University of Louisville, the University of Nebraska Omaha, the University of Michigan, and Western Michigan University are also being investigated for scholarships awarded to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and students living in the state without permanent legal status.
The investigations were launched based on complaints from the Equal Protection Project, part of the Legal Insurrection Foundation. On its website, EPP declares it’s “devoted to the fair treatment of all persons without regard to race or ethnicity.”
EPP founder William A. Jacobson lauded the news of the investigation in the DOE press release.
“Protecting equal access to education includes protecting the rights of American-born students. 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. “Discrimination against American-born students must not be tolerated,” Jacobson said in the press release.
The “U Dreamers Program” is the only scholarship at UM being investigated by the DOE’s Office of Civil Rights.
Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor said the investigation reflects President Donald Trump’s commitment to “put America first.”
“Neither the Trump Administration’s America first policies nor the Civil Rights Act of 1964’s prohibition on national origin discrimination permit universities to deny our fellow citizens the opportunity to compete for scholarships because they were born in the United States,” he said in the statement. “As we mark President Trump’s historic six months back in the White House, we are expanding our enforcement efforts to protect American students and lawful residents from invidious national origin discrimination of the kind alleged here.”
The University of Miami is a private college. The Legislature this year repealed a 2014 law that allowed DACA recipients to pay in-state tuition rates at public universities and community colleges.
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