Trump administration says Columbia University fails to meet accreditation standards

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Columbia University no longer meets accreditation standards due to its violation of federal anti-discrimination laws, the US government said on Wednesday.

The federal education department said it had notified the Middle States Commission on Higher Education that Columbia, a member institution, was “in violation of federal anti-discrimination laws and therefore fails to meet the standards for accreditation set by the commission”.

The announcement marked another escalation in Donald Trump’s battle against the US’s elite higher education institutions.

Only students attending accredited US universities are eligible for federal student aid. “Accreditors have an enormous public responsibility as gatekeepers of federal student aid,” said secretary of education Linda McMahon.

“After Hamas’s October 7 2023, terror attack on Israel, Columbia University’s leadership acted with deliberate indifference towards the harassment of Jewish students on its campus,” she said.

The Middle States Commission on Higher Education and Columbia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This is a developing story