The University of Louisville is one of five schools under a civil rights investigation for scholarships the U.S. Department of Education says may discriminate in favor of undocumented immigrants, officials said in a July 23 news release.
The education department’s Office for Civil Rights will examine whether UofL is violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by offering scholarships targeted toward undocumented students or students in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which allows young immigrants who grew up in the U.S. to temporarily remain and work in the country without deportation.
“The university was just notified of the investigation yesterday. We are reviewing the claims,” UofL spokesperson John Karman said in a statement.
Officials began the probe after receiving complaints from the Legal Insurrection Foundation’s Equal Protection Project, which bills itself as an organization calling for “fair treatment of all persons without regard to race or ethnicity.”
“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,” said William A. Jacobson, founder of the Equal Protection Project. “Discrimination against American-born students must not be tolerated.”
According to the news release, investigators will probe the following UofL scholarship programs:
The University of Nebraska Omaha, University of Miami, University of Michigan and Western Michigan University are also under investigation.
The probe comes as the university faces pressures from state and federal officials to dissolve all diversity, equity and inclusion practices, which critics say provide favorable opportunities to people from underrepresented backgrounds while overlooking the merit of others who might deserve them.
In the 2025 legislative session, Kentucky lawmakers passed House Bill 4, which prohibits public universities from spending money on DEI initiatives, defined as policies, practices or procedures “designed or implemented to promote or provide differential treatment or benefits to individuals on the basis of religion, race, sex, color or national origin.”
In February, the U.S. Department of Education issued a letter threatening to revoke federal funding from universities that continue using race as a factor in various practices like hiring, admissions and scholarships.
Contact reporter Killian Baarlaer at kbaarlaer@gannett.com or @bkillian72 on X.
