White House Issues New Executive Orders on K-12, Higher Education, and Workforce Development
This week, President Trump signed a series of executive orders (EOs) addressing numerous aspects of K-12 and higher education.
This week, President Trump signed a series of executive orders (EOs) addressing numerous aspects of K-12 and higher education. The new EOs cover the role of artificial intelligence in education, school discipline policies, HBCUs, reporting of foreign gifts to institutions of higher education, and more.
The directives from the White House further the administration’s priorities in K-12 education, higher education, and workforce development. Understanding the scope and intent of these executive orders is crucial for state policymakers, especially as the White House progresses towards its goal of returning education policymaking to the states.
Executive Order on Advancing Artificial Intelligence Education for American Youth
This EO lays out the federal policy on AI in education as follows: “It is the policy of the United States to promote AI literacy and proficiency among Americans by promoting the appropriate integration of AI into education, providing comprehensive AI training for educators, and fostering early exposure to AI concepts and technology to develop an AI-ready workforce and the next generation of American AI innovators.”
The order also creates the Artificial Intelligence Education Task Force within the White House. The task force will be composed of several cabinet secretaries and department/agency heads tasked with creating plans for a Presidential Artificial Intelligence Challenge. The task force is also responsible for cultivating public-private partnerships that advance AI innovation and collaboration.
Executive Order on Restoring Equality of Opportunity and Meritocracy
This directive orders federal agencies to deprioritize enforcement of statutes and regulations that include disparate-impact liability. Disparate-impact liability is a legal doctrine that, according to the White House, holds “that differences in outcomes among races, sexes, or similar groups indicate unlawful discrimination, even without discriminatory intent or policies.”
The EO also requires the Attorney General to review pending investigations and civil suits within 45 days and take appropriate action on those consistent with the directive.
Executive Order on Reinstating Common Sense School Discipline Policies
In January 2014, the Department of Education and the Department of Justice issued guidance explaining that schools could be in violation of federal law if their disciplinary policies failed to comply with the disparate-impact doctrine. The guidance was rescinded after a major 2018 report from the Federal Commission on School Safety found that “schools ignored or covered up – rather than disciplined – student misconduct in order to avoid any purported racial disparity in discipline numbers.” While the guidance was rescinded, it was reinstated in 2023 by the Department of Education.
This executive order directs the Secretary of Education to issue new guidance on school discipline within 30 days. It notes that the guidance will emphasize state obligations not to engage in racial discrimination, but the new guidance will not contain the disparate-impact doctrine.
Executive Order on Preparing Americans for High-Paying Skilled Trade Jobs of the Future
This EO directs the Secretaries of Labor, Commerce, and Education to “review all Federal workforce development programs and submit…a report setting forth strategies to help the American worker.” The report will identify statutory authorities, administrative reforms, and other opportunities to increase the number of Americans in skilled trades and other occupations. The EO also sets a goal of creating 1 million new active apprentices.
This directive establishes the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The initiative’s goal is to increase the capacity of HBCUs by 1) “increasing the private-sector role, including the role of private foundations” in HBCUs; and 2) “enhancing HBCU capabilities to serve our Nation’s young adults.” The EO also creates the President’s Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, which will be housed within the Department of Education, to help achieve the EO’s goals.
Reforming Accreditation to Strengthen Higher Education
This EO directs the Secretary of Education to “hold accountable, including through denial, monitoring, suspension, or termination of accreditation recognition, accreditors who fail to meet the applicable recognition criteria or otherwise violate Federal law, including by requiring institutions seeking accreditation to engage in unlawful discrimination in accreditation-related activity under the guise of ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ initiatives.”
The administration specifically noted that the American Bar Association’s Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, which is the sole accreditor for Juris Doctor programs, requires law schools to “demonstrate by concrete action a commitment to diversity and inclusion.”
The White House also cited the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, which is the only accredited body for Doctor of Medicine programs. The committee requires programs to “engage in ongoing, systematic, and focused recruitment and retention activities, to achieve mission-appropriate diversity outcomes among its students.”
The EO lays out new principles for student-oriented accreditation standards at the federal level that will prioritize quality, value, intellectual diversity, academic freedom, and other factors.
Executive Order on Transparency Regarding Foreign Influence at American Universities
The administration notes that Section 117 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 requires institutions of higher education to disclose the source(s) of significant foreign funding. However, this provision has not been well enforced. As a result, more than half of reportable foreign gifts go unreported. The EO states that it will be the administration’s policy to “end the secrecy surrounding foreign funds in American educational institutions, protect the marketplace of ideas from propaganda sponsored by foreign governments, and safeguard America’s students and research from foreign exploitation.”
The Secretary of Education is directed to work with the Attorney General and other executive agencies to ensure that universities and colleges are disclosing all foreign gifts in excess of $250,000, as required by current law.