GW Federal Update (September 10)

Key Takeaways

• In August, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a letter alleging the School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS) has discriminated against Asian and white medical school applicants based on applicants’ race. As President Granberg shared, the university firmly believes that DOJ’s conclusions are incorrect and that SMHS has been and remains in full compliance with applicable law. While legal processes limit the specific details the university can share publicly at any given moment, we will provide community updates as we are able to do so.
   
• Due to new federal guidance, the GW International Services Office (ISO) has paused authorization of any new Curricular Practical Training (CPT) requests that are not required of all students in an academic degree program. Students who already have authorized CPT should continue to follow the employer location, dates and other conditions listed on their current Form I-20 and continue with their plans. GW community members may isogwu [dot] edu (contact ISO) if they have any questions.
   
• Various federal agencies—including the Department of Education, IRS, Office of Management and Budget and Department of Homeland Security—have recently proposed changes to federal regulations that could impact the university. As described in further detail below, the changes could impact accreditation standards, tax exemptions, research and grantmaking and the H-1B visa grace period.

GW Updates

• As President Granberg announced in an August 28 message to the community, on August 27 the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a letter concluding that in the years since the 2023 Supreme Court decision in SFFA v. Harvard, the School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS) has discriminated against Asian and white medical school applicants based on applicants’ race. The university firmly believes that DOJ’s conclusions are incorrect and that SMHS has been and remains in full compliance with applicable law. We are extremely proud of the extraordinary talent of our medical students, past and present, as well as the work SMHS does in advancing our academic mission. While legal processes limit the specific details the university can share publicly at any given moment, we will provide community updates as we are able to do so.
   
• On August 24, DHS issued guidance which purports to clarify requirements for international students’ participation in internships through Curricular Practical Training (CPT), advising that CPT may only be authorized when the college or university has a cooperative agreement in place with an employer and only when “the practical training is required for all students enrolled in the relevant curriculum, regardless of citizenship.” 
  
  As a result of this guidance, the International Services Office (ISO) has paused authorization of any new CPT requests that are not required of all students in an academic degree program. Students who already have authorized CPT should continue to follow the employer location, dates and other conditions listed on their current Form I-20 and continue with their plans. GW community members may isogwu [dot] edu (contact ISO) if they have any questions.

Recent Federal Actions

Department of Education

• The Department of Education has published a proposed rule that seeks to simplify the process for new accrediting agencies to gain federal recognition and introduce explicit expectations for what accreditors assess at higher education institutions. Key provisions require accreditors to ensure institutions maintain policies to support, promote and appropriately prioritize intellectual diversity and the free exchange of ideas among faculty. Additionally, the rule mandates that accreditors prohibit institutions from providing any preferences on the basis of race.
  
  The proposed regulations carry significant operational implications for GW, as federal requirements placed on accreditors directly impact compliance standards. New expectations around faculty free expression, intellectual diversity and prohibitions on racial preferences could require institutional reviews of university policies, governance structures and administrative programs. 
  
  GW is evaluating the scope of the rule and formal comments will be submitted. Public comments are open through September 21. Legal challenges are widely anticipated if the final regulations are enacted.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

• On September 3, the IRS issued a proposed rule under which a college or university’s tax-exempt status could be revoked if they are found to have engaged in race-based “remedial or diversity-related objectives,” such as those commonly associated with DEI initiatives in the administration of any admissions policy, scholarship or loan program, athletic program or other school-administered program. Comments are due by November 3, and if finalized, the proposed rule would go into effect on May 31, 2027. According to news reports, the proposed rule will likely be challenged by several groups if enacted. 

Congress

• President Trump has signed a new funding bill into law, keeping federal agencies funded through December 11 and preventing a government shutdown. The legislation also blocks the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) from finalizing proposed changes to the Uniform Guidance—explained in further detail in prior Federal Update newsletters—which include proposed revisions to federal grant administration rules, through at least December 11.
  
  For GW, the legislation provides operational and financial continuity as well as stability for community members. A federal government shutdown can lead to delays in grant disbursements, proposal evaluations and communications among federal funding partners. With federal agencies remaining open, active GW research projects can proceed without interruption and federal financial aid processing for students will continue. In addition, freezing Uniform Guidance revisions provides more time to evaluate prospective federal grant rules.

Research and Grantmaking

• Discussions surrounding the OMB Uniform Guidance revisions remain active on the Hill. Recently, Representatives Andrew Garbarino (R-NY), a GW alumnus, Nick LaLota (R-NY) and Don Bacon (R-NE) sent a letter to OMB Director Russell Vought urging the agency to withdraw or substantially revise its proposed changes. The lawmakers warned that allowing federal agencies to cancel active grants at will introduces severe fiscal instability and undermines the long-standing trust between federal agencies and grant recipients. They also wrote that modifying award evaluation structures risks disrupting objective, merit-based review procedures, adding administrative unpredictability into the grant selection pipeline.
  
  For GW, this congressional pushback helps safeguard core research operations, supporting regulatory stability and protecting active GW research projects from unnecessary administrative risk. Provisions permitting arbitrary award terminations risk interrupting multi-year clinical trials and studies across campus. Furthermore, changes to review procedures could create compliance challenges and complicate proposal submissions.
   
• On August 12, the National Science Foundation (NSF) concluded that three programs aimed at increasing racial, ethnic and gender diversity in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields—totaling $104 million dollars Congress allocated for STEM education—were unconstitutional.

International Community

• The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is considering issuing a proposed rule that would eliminate the 60-day grace period available to H-1B workers and certain other employment-based visa holders following a job loss. The proposed rule will likely be published in the Federal Register in the near future. If adopted, the rule would significantly impact H-1B holders’ ability to secure a new sponsor and/or arrange to leave the country.
   
• In the August 13 edition of the Federal Update, we reported that on July 16, DHS announced a final rule, scheduled to take effect on September 15, under which international students on F, J and I visas would need to leave the U.S. in four years, irrespective of whether they finished their program of study, unless they receive an extension. On August 18, a coalition of eight organizations filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, arguing among other things that DHS violated the Administrative Procedure Act by, for example, not completing a thorough analysis of the potential impact of the rule. On September 3, the court heard oral argument on plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction. 
   
• In the January 15 edition of the Federal Update, we reported that on January 14, the State Department announced that it would suspend immigrant visa processing for 75 countries, including Brazil, Egypt, Nigeria, Thailand and Yemen, whose foreign nationals, according to the State Department, “take welfare from the American people at unacceptable rates.” On August 21, the U.S. District Court in New York ruled that the Trump Administration must resume processing visas for individuals in those countries, holding among other reasons that the suspension is in contravention of consular offices’ exclusive, congressionally granted authority to determine if someone is eligible, in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.

Other Higher Education Institutions

• Duke University: On September 8, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a letter concluding that the Duke University School of Medicine “used, and continues to use, race and race-revealing proxies in medical school admissions decisions after SFFA [v. Harvard] in violation of Title VI.” OCR has given Duke 10 business days to inform OCR whether it is willing to execute a voluntary resolution agreement “satisfactory to OCR” and if not, OCR “will take all appropriate actions … including by promptly referring this matter to the Department of Justice.”  As reported in the August 13 edition of the Federal Update, DOJ also found that the Duke School of Law was in violation of Title VI in its admissions practices.
   
• University of California, Berkeley: On September 9, DOJ and ED issued a letter and press release concluding that the University of California, Berkeley School of Law “deliberately discriminates against white and Asian students in its admissions process” by, for example, using “race, essay prompts, and other tactics to further its admissions diversity goals.” DOJ seeks to “enter into a voluntary resolution agreement with the University to ensure that admissions and oversight practices are brought into legal compliance.”
   
• Harvard University: In the March 26 edition of the Federal Update, we reported that DOJ filed a lawsuit against Harvard University, alleging among other things that it violated students' civil rights under Title VI by "its intentional conduct and its deliberate indifference to discriminatory harassment of Jewish and Israeli students and creation of a hostile educational environment since October 7, 2023, up to the present day." On August 13, the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts granted Harvard’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit, concluding that DOJ did not sufficiently show evidence of an ongoing violation of Title VI. The court held that prior incidents of alleged antisemitism were “too isolated and episodic to support a plausible inference that any institutionalized noncompliance with Title VI persists at Harvard to this day.”
   
• College of William & Mary: On August 17, DOJ announced that it opened a compliance review into the College of William & Mary to determine whether the college’s scholarships and student benefits include racial criteria in violation of Title VI. DOJ identified four scholarship programs for review, including one under which DOJ says that applicants with an “interest in diverse people and perspectives” receive “top consideration,” another that provides a “preference” to Hispanic or Latino women and one that is open to graduates of Historically Black Colleges and Universities.”

Resources

GW is committed to supporting our students, faculty and staff through federal changes. Curated resources are available for staying informed and safe, in addition to FAQs addressing the most common topics on students' minds, including interactions with external law enforcement and supporting international community members.

About this Newsletter

GW publishes this Federal Update to inform students, faculty and staff about how developments in the federal government affect higher education generally and the university. This newsletter includes timely information, answers to questions from GW community members, and resources for support.