The Department of Education's Office of Enforcement — created by the Obama administration and resurrected by the Biden administration — has repeatedly attempted to shut down colleges and universities that don't align with the administration's "woke agenda," according to a report from the American Principles Project.
The report, released Nov. 18, revealed approximately 70% of the office's enforcement efforts were aimed at Christian and career schools, despite the fact such schools represent less than 10% of college students.
Last year, the Biden administration increased the Office of Enforcement's budget by nearly 600% and requested an almost 230% increase this year, the report found.
"After being 'deprioritized' under the Trump-Pence administration, the Student Aid Enforcement Unit was 'restored' by the Biden Department of Education in October 2021 under a new moniker, the Office of Enforcement, still housed under the Office of Student Aid," the report said.
Between 1980 and 2020, enrollment at faith-based schools grew 82% — about 44% faster than the national average — and the American Principles Project's report stated the Biden-Harris administration worked to curb the trend by employing a "scrutinize-and-penalize" strategy to dismantle targeted schools.
"At least 12 Christian colleges have been the target of excessive penalties or banned from receiving federal student aid; by comparison, no Ivy League school has been the recipient of punitive action by the Office of Enforcement," the report said.
In 2015, Corinthian Colleges was fined $30 million by the Department of Education for allegedly failing to provide prospective students with "clear and accurate information." The department also banned the institution from receiving federal student aid.
Later that year, Corinthian — once the largest career-education organization in the nation — filed for bankruptcy, affecting nearly 16,000 students.
"The undoing of Corinthian Colleges was led by Kamala Harris, who was then working as attorney general of California," the report said. "Ms. Harris accused the organization of intentional misrepresentation to students and false and predatory advertising. Although she 'struggled to support her claims,' the Department of Education 'rode to her rescue by making exhaustive document demands,' The Wall Street Journal editorial board wrote."
According to the Journal, officials in the Obama administration then complained that the college was taking too long to produce documents and the Education Department cut off federal student aid, which forced Corinthian to shut down, leaving tens of thousands of students displaced.
"Appropriated by liberal activists, the Office of Enforcement has been formed into a weapon to single out and penalize schools that the administration disfavors," the report claimed. "Once focused primarily on career colleges, the Department of Education has now turned the Office of Enforcement on Christian colleges and universities, which threatens to have the same disastrous effects."
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