The federal government on Friday aimed at small projects supporting students seeking business school degrees and 45 graduate programs related to them.
The target is a program called a doctoral degree. The project and its mission is to promote racial diversity in professors at the country's business schools with the idea of ​​”enhancing education for everyone.”
Schools named in the survey include Ivy League institutions such as Yale and Cornell, as well as public universities such as Ohio and Arizona.
The PhD-Montberle, New Jersey-based project did not immediately respond to a request for comment after the Department of Research issued a statement announcing the investigation.
Since the organization was launched in 1994, the PhD project has worked to increase the number of Black, Hispanic and Native American students who have completed their PhDs in Business.
Since then, the degree awarded to people in these groups of doctoral degrees has increased from 294 to 1,700, according to statistics posted on the website of Collegiate Schools of Business Schools, one of the founding members of the project.
Of these students, 1,303 currently teach at higher education institutions across the country, the association said on its website. The association could not immediately request comment.
A recent federal submission project by the PhD shows annual revenues of around $2 million. According to the group's website list, among business partners that help the organization raise funds, the KPMG Foundation and LinkedIn.
The Trump administration is opposed to programs that provide priority or support over certain racial groups. They also want to expand their definition of discriminatory education programs, arguing that some programs that appear to be racially neutral are not.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in announcing the survey of 45 business school programs: “Pupils must be evaluated according to their merits and achievements. “We will not surrender this commitment.”
In addition to these 45 schools, the agency said it is investigating seven other schools for violations that it characterized as “racial-based scholarships and racial-based separation.”
The agency provided no additional information regarding the focus of the investigation.
