FIRST ON FOX: The Trump administration has opened a federal civil rights investigation into Florida State University (FSU) over 32 scholarships accused of discriminating against students based on race or sex, according to a Department of Education (DOE) letter obtained by Fox News Digital.
The DOE’s Office for Civil Rights said it will investigate whether FSU discriminated on the basis of race, color or national origin in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, and whether the university discriminated based on sex in violation of Title IX.
The investigation stems from a July 2025 complaint filed by the Equal Protection Project (EPP) that targeted 32 FSU scholarships. The DOE’s Aug. 4 letter lists all 32 programs, and confirms FSU is a recipient of federal financial assistance and therefore must comply with Title VI and Title IX.
William Jacobson, founder and president of the EPP and Cornell Law professor, told Fox News Digital that FSU stood out even among the hundreds of colleges and universities his organization has challenged.
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“Florida State, surprisingly, has one of the largest contingencies of discriminatory scholarships that we’ve seen anywhere,” Jacobson said of the Tallahassee institution with an enrollment of more than 46,000 students. “We have challenged over 290 colleges and universities, and only a handful have this many.”
Jacobson said the allegations were particularly surprising because of Florida’s aggressive efforts to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and discrimination in higher education.
“The culture on the campuses has not caught up yet with the politics,” Jacobson said. “Florida famously has cracked down on wokeness and DEI and discrimination more so than blue states. So it’s very surprising to find such aggressive discriminatory scholarships at Florida State University.”
The Equal Protection Project’s 34-page complaint divides the programs into 14 scholarships it alleges discriminate based on race, color or national origin, 13 based on sex, and five based on both.
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FSU pushed back on the allegations, telling Fox News Digital that all students are eligible to apply for and receive the scholarships under investigation.
“All Florida State University students are eligible to apply for and receive the scholarships listed,” the university said in a statement. “While donors may express preferences, these do not constitute eligibility requirements.”
FSU said the scholarships are funded entirely through private donations rather than institutional funds and maintained that all applicants are “evaluated equally based on merit,” with no student disqualified or given an unfair advantage because of a donor preference.
The distinction between a donor’s stated preference and an eligibility requirement is at the center of the dispute.
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