Exclusive: Teacher Recruitment Programs Accused Of Racial Rigging

Four teacher preparation programs receiving federal dollars are under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education after it received “credible reports” that they illegally discriminate by targeting aid toward non-white teachers.

According to information obtained by The Federalist, these programs are “designed to recruit, retain, and support future educators,” but some also operate with explicit racial intent to artificially alter the “diversity” of a teacher workforce by providing services based on race. The Office for Civil Rights (OCR), which is conducting the investigation, said the programs could be in violation both of Title VI and Title IX of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for race or sex discrimination, respectively.

“Race, national origin, or sex should not decide who will shape America’s next generation, yet many states and universities seem to prioritize recruiting and training ‘minority’ candidates rather than evaluating candidates based solely on merit,” Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey told The Federalist. “Education agencies and institutions that consider race, national origin, or sex as a means to withhold opportunities in selecting, supporting, and preparing teaching candidates violate federal law and compromise education excellence. The Trump Administration will fully investigate these allegations and ensure a future where students are once again judged on their hard work and merit, not prejudged by the color of their skin or their sex.”

The programs come from both institutions of higher education and state education agencies.

The City University of New York (CUNY) is under investigation for its NYC Men Teach Program which “aims to improve the diversity of the NYC teaching workforce by adding 1,000 male teachers of color into the teacher pipeline,” according to its website. The program surpassed that racial quota goal in 2018, and maintains finding candidates from the 16 CUNY campuses as well as a new effort to find candidates from high schools.

The University of Maryland (UMD) School of Education received a nearly $100,000 grant from the Maryland Higher Education Commission’s Teacher Quality and Diversity Grant Program, providing aid to “students from groups historically underrepresented in the teaching profession.” It specifies that “historically underrepresented” meant “African Americans, American Indians/Alaska Natives, Hispanics/Latinos, those from low-income backgrounds, first-generation college students, and individuals with disabilities.”

However, although it is possible groups like “low income,” “first-generation college students,” and disabled persons could be white, the “eligibility” portion of the program states “priority is given to historically black colleges and universities and Hispanic-serving institutions with a track record of preparing diverse and high-quality teachers.”

White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller has stated that removing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) discrimination and other left-wing ideologies from universities will be one of his focuses in the role.

UMD also has the EdTerps CARES Network which is “designed to recruit and retain community college transfer students — particularly those from racially and ethnically minoritized backgrounds — into teaching programs at UMD.”

The program boasted the ability to get non-white candidates through transfer students, stating that between 2017 and 2019, 47.2 percent of the transfer students “identified as Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC), compared with just 28.8% of first-year students.” It called transfer students the “essential strategy for increasing the recruitment and retention of multilingual and racially and ethnically diverse teacher candidates who will help diversify the educator workforce.”

Minnesota has two entities under investigation: the state Department of Education and the state Office of Higher Education.

Through its Education Tuition Assistance Program, which provides scholarships and stipends to teacher preparation programs, the department is able to target grants toward “teacher candidates of color and American Indian teacher candidates.”

The program has had this racial focus since its creation in 1997, with the explicit purpose of increasing the number of non-white teachers, thereby decreasing the number of white teachers.

Using the acronym TOCAIT, which stands for “Teachers of Color and American Indian Teachers,” the program tracks the percentage of these non-white teacher candidates at the state’s universities.

From 2024 to 2026 alone the program has doled out $5,872,960.21 to universities, most of which was awarded in 2026.

The Minnesota Office of Higher Education is under investigation for its Aspiring Teachers of Color Scholarship Pilot Program and the Underrepresented Student Teacher Grant, “both of which conditioned eligibility for receiving the awards on the applicant’s race,” OCR stated.

The Aspiring Teachers program says it is for “teachers of color” in the title, as also makes race a contingency, stating it is “designed to provide postsecondary financial assistance to undergraduate and graduate students who are preparing to become teachers, have demonstrated financial need, and belong to racial or ethnic groups underrepresented in the Minnesota teacher workforce.”

Even more explicitly, the program states, “in order to receive an award the institutions are required to verify if the applicants identify as a race or ethnicity underrepresented in the Minnesota teacher workforce.”

The Underrepresented Student Teacher Grant uses nearly identical wording.

In addition to the four programs, OCR is also opening investigations into 11 universities to determine if they are violating similar civil rights law with their program offerings.

The schools are: University of California – Berkeley, University of California – Los Angeles (UCLA), Campbell University, Drake University, College of DuPage, Middle Tennessee State University, University of North Iowa, University of Tennessee – Knoxville, University of San Diego, Seattle University, Westfield State University.

The U.S. Department of Education that the complaints received detail how the schools allegedly restricted scholarships, educational opportunities like fellowship programs, and support services on the basis of race or sex. However, the department was unable to provide more detail on the specifics of the allegations, as it is not their policy to discuss complaints.

Breccan F. Thies is the White House correspondent for The Federalist. He is a co-recipient of the 2025 Dao Prize for Excellence in Investigative Journalism. As an investigative journalist, he previously covered education and culture issues for the Washington Examiner and Breitbart News. He holds a degree from the University of Virginia and is a 2022 Claremont Institute Publius Fellow. You can follow him on X: @BreccanFThies.