Trump targets private school tax-exempt status over race-based aid. California campuses on notice

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Set us as preferred WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is proposing a new rule that would strip private schools and colleges of their tax-exempt status if they provide targeted help to students based on their race, a significant escalation in the White House’s campaign to eradicate diversity programs directed at Black, Latino and other minority students.The Treasury Department proposed the change Thursday in a new regulation that, if made final, would take effect after May 2027.The rule is broadly aimed at ending any policies or programs that help students because of their race, and it specifically says such benefits in admissions, scholarships and facilities “would be incompatible” with the rule.It’s the latest attempt by the Trump administration to pressure schools and colleges to end diversity, equity and inclusion policies that had become common before President Trump returned to the White House with a promise to eliminate them.

Trump officials have used Civil Rights-era laws to unwind the policies, saying they discriminate against white and Asian American students.The Treasury Department and IRS estimate that up to 18,000 private schools, colleges and other education institutions nationwide could be affected by the proposal.In California, the proposed changes would cover the more than 85 nonprofit colleges and universities that belong to the Assn.of Independent California Colleges and Universities, among them Stanford and USC.

The proposed rule also affects private K-12 schools.Steven Bloom, assistant vice president of government relations at the American Council on Education, which represents colleges and universities, said he expects colleges to change course long before enforcement of the federal rules.“I think it will have a chilling effect on the behavior of folks on campus,” he said.“There are...