How Accreditation Became a Shield for Campus Ideology

James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal ^ | April 29, 2026 | Anne Hendershott

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For years, universities have embraced accreditation standards that echo their own ideological commitments, especially around Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). These standards haven’t felt like external requirements so much as mutual reinforcement—accreditors writing expectations that colleges already agree with and colleges pointing back to those expectations whenever they want to justify a decision. Because of this, it is no surprise that universities are now pushing back against the Trump administration’s effort to end illegal university-accreditation demands for DEI.

Last month, Department of Education undersecretary Nicholas Kent sent letters to the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE), warning both that the DEI requirements built into their current accreditation standards are in conflict with federal law. CAPTE’s accreditation standards, for example, openly demand that its accredited programs promote “justice, equity, diversity, inclusivity, belonging, and anti-racism.” Though CAPTE had “place[d] a stay” on the offending requirements at the start of the second Trump administration, the message to universities remains intact—and institutions like it that way.

For their part, Middle States officials pushed back against Kent’s letter, insisting that, although it had left its DEI requirements in place, it had paused their enforcement. But the Department of Education’s point is simple: If your standards tell institutions to “promote diversity,” you are pressuring them to treat people differently based on race. That is exactly what civil-rights law forbids.

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TOPICS: Education
KEYWORDS: accreditation; california; college; education