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USA Today
24-05-2025
- Health
- USA Today
DEI dropped: Medical schools won't be graded on diversity amid federal, state crackdown
DEI dropped: Medical schools won't be graded on diversity amid federal, state crackdown Show Caption Hide Caption Federal judge blocks Trump from cutting school funding over DEI A federal judge in New Hampshire has blocked the Trump administration from cutting federal funding from public schools that continue to run diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. unbranded - Newsworthy Citing state crackdowns on diversity, equity and inclusion, the organization that accredits medical schools has dropped diversity as a measure of the quality of medical education. The Liaison Committee on Medical Education on May 19 voted to eliminate diversity programs and partnerships as criteria when it grades the performance of medical schools that confer "MD" degrees to students. The liaison committee said it acted because new and proposed state laws targeting diversity, equity and inclusion conflict with the accrediting body's standards. Eliminating diversity standards would create "a single set of accreditation expectations with which all schools, regardless of their location and current legislative environment, must comply," the liaison committee said in a statement. A liaison committee spokesperson said the committee made the decision after "thoughtful and careful consideration and discussion." Its two sponsoring organizations, the Association of American Medical Colleges and the American Medical Association, did not answer questions from USA TODAY. The decision to target diversity is a setback in efforts to attract medical students of all backgrounds, said doctors who have worked to promote diversity. Dr. Virginia Caine, an Indiana University professor of medicine, said it's important for doctors to connect and communicate with different cultures. "We're just dumbfounded by this decision made by LCME," said Caine, who serves as president of the National Medical Association, which represents Black physicians. Caine said studies have shown that Black patients experience better health outcomes and engage more effectively when treated by Black physicians. "We have such a rich and incredible history of talented Black physicians," said Caine, the public health department director of Marion County, Indiana. "If we knock out the access before they even are entering medical schools or academic schools, we're just going to be a nation that's not as creative, not as innovative and not as successful." Black, Hispanic doctors lag the overall population About 5.2% of the nation's doctors in 2022 identified as Black, according to a physician workforce report by the Association of American Medical Colleges. That's an improvement since 2019 when 2.6% of physicians identified as Black. Still, the share of Black doctors still doesn't match the 13.7% in the overall population. About 6.3% of physicians in 2022 identified as Hispanic, Latino or Spanish origin, which also significantly trails the overall population. More than a half dozen states have enacted laws placing restrictions on diversity efforts at state institutions such as colleges and universities. Florida, for example, prohibits state institutions from giving preferential consideration for employment, admission, or promotion. And after taking office for his second term, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to end diversity, equity and inclusion policies in the federal government and affirmative action in federal contracting. To reflect its turn away from enforcing diversity standards at medical schools, the liaison committee said it's updating guidance for academic years 2025-26 and 2026-27. The liaison committee assigns survey teams to assess medical schools on a dozen standards for items such as leadership, curriculum, faculty and medical student selection, support and services. Schools that previously got diversity-related citations − or those preparing for accreditation − won't have to provide information on their diversity efforts, the liaison committee said. The National Medical Association said the federal and state efforts to cut diversity, equity and inclusion is limiting access to medical education for the next generation of Black physicians. Caine said the nation already has a physician shortage projected to worsen within 5 years when about 1 in 3 practicing physicians will reach retirement age. "It's important for everybody," Caine said. All medical students "should have the ability to connect, to be open, to communicate with your patients. To do that, you have to have some level of understanding related to that culture." Move away from DEI is 'disheartening' Dr. Osose Oboh knows how important it is to reduce bias and improve trust with patients. Oboh graduated medical school from Michigan State University and completed an internal medicine residency at Johns Hopkins University. She now is completing a gastroenterology fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco. Oboh said the federal and state crackdown on DEI - and the liaison committee's response - is "disheartening." "There is an attack on something that is actually good," Oboh said. "Diversity has been rebranded as giving unqualified folks opportunity, when in reality, it's increasing exposure to qualified people." She said bias in a medical setting can surface both among patients and doctors. Oboh, who is Black, said she recently gave "bad news" to a Black patient's family. She explained the diagnoses and next steps the medical team planned to take. "They were so appreciative to receive it from me," Oboh said. "They understood why we were taking the steps we're taking and why we were going to do the interventions we were going to do. They felt like nobody else had explained it to them."
Epoch Times
02-05-2025
- Business
- Epoch Times
New Federal Guidance Makes It Easier for Colleges to Switch Accreditors
The U.S. Department of Education said on Thursday that it will accelerate the process for colleges and universities to switch accreditors, eliminating what officials called 'unnecessary requirements' that hinder institutional innovation. The policy shift was laid out in a 'Dear Colleague' In the letter, the department said it would no longer scrutinize the underlying reasons institutions provide for changing accreditors and would expedite the review of such requests. 'The law and regulation do not dictate a robust or onerous process for receiving the Department's approval for a change in accrediting agencies or maintaining multiple accreditation,' Bergeron wrote. 'Therefore ... the Department will conduct expeditious reviews of applications received, except in rare cases where an institution lacks a reasonable cause for making a change.' Colleges may now seek new accreditors for a variety of reasons, including closer alignment with religious values, compliance with state laws, a shift in the type of academic programs offered, or objection to DEI-related accreditation criteria. If the department does not respond to a complete application within 30 days, the request will be automatically approved unless specific legal prohibitions apply. With the new guidance, the department formally revoked 2022 Biden-era guidance that had exerted more scrutiny over changing accreditors, which was prompted in part by a Florida law requiring its 40 public colleges and universities to change accreditors every 10 years. At the time, the Biden administration justified the added scrutiny by arguing that institutions might attempt to avoid accountability from existing accreditors by switching to more lenient ones. Related Stories 4/28/2025 3/25/2025 In a statement announcing the changes, Education Secretary Linda McMahon 'We must foster a competitive marketplace both amongst accreditors and colleges and universities in order to lower college costs and refocus postsecondary education on improving academic and workforce outcomes for students and families,' she said. In the April 23 executive order, Trump criticizes major accrediting agencies for misplaced priorities. Despite rising student debt, stagnant graduation rates, and poor labor market outcomes for many graduates, he said, accreditors have remained 'improperly focused on compelling adoption of discriminatory ideology.' The order singled out two accrediting bodies by name: the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, which accredits medical schools; and the American Bar Association's Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, which accredits law schools. Both agencies include accreditation standards requiring schools to actively pursue a racially diverse student body—provisions Trump criticized as violations of civil rights laws that prohibit race-based discrimination in education. 'Federal recognition will not be provided to accreditors engaging in unlawful discrimination,' Trump wrote, directing McMahon to hold agencies accountable by denying, suspending, or terminating their recognition if they 'fail to meet the applicable recognition criteria or otherwise violate Federal law.' The order also includes a provision directing McMahon to ensure that 'institutions support and appropriately prioritize intellectual diversity amongst faculty in order to advance academic freedom, intellectual inquiry, and student learning.' Some accreditors welcomed the new guidance. The Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE), which accredits more than 500 institutions, including Princeton, Cornell, and Johns Hopkins Universities, said the changes will support its efforts to streamline the process for institutions seeking to switch accreditors. 'As an accreditor with institutions that have been stalled in the process, this guidance will have a positive impact on the work we have been doing with several institutions. We look forward to helping our institutions understand what this may mean for them and for us,' MSCHE President Heather Perfetti wrote. 'We appreciate that there are well-defined restrictions that will not allow for institutions to change accreditors to avoid accountability with an existing accreditor.'
