Florida State University hit with federal civil rights investigation over race, sex-based scholarship programs
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 (OCR) 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.
Among the programs cited is the Crockett Family Fund for Excellence, whose FSU listing, reproduced in the complaint, stated that any student could apply but that it was the donor's preference that the recipient be an African American or Black student.
Jacobson zeroed in on that language during his interview with Fox News Digital, arguing that FSU cannot shield itself from discrimination allegations by attributing the preference to private donors.
"They try to couch this in terms of offloading the blame onto the donor," Jacobson said. "These are scholarships promoted by and awarded through the Florida State University system. Legally, they are responsible."
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"So that's what I found [at] Florida State to be most interesting, is that they seem to try to wordsmith around it," he added.
Other programs identified in the complaint include the Crossman Career Builders Scholarship, which stated a donor preference for a female recipient who is Black or African American, Hispanic or a member of the Seminole Tribe, and the Disciples of the Diamond Spring 81 Scholarship, which expressed an additional preference for an African American male.
Another, the Dynamic African American Women in Engineering Powerhouse Scholarship, stated that any student could apply but expressed a donor preference for an African American female student.
The complaint also challenges a number of scholarships based solely on sex. Among them is the College of Arts and Sciences Student Travel Awards, whose listing stated any student could apply while expressing a preference for a female recipient.
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Jacobson argued the distinction between an eligibility requirement and a stated preference does not resolve the underlying legal issue.
"Rather than doing away with it, they play word games," he said. "And that's just not good enough."
The DOE has not determined that FSU violated federal law.
OCR explicitly said that opening the investigation "in no way implies" that it has reached a determination on the merits. The agency said it will serve as a neutral factfinder and collect and analyze evidence from FSU, the complainant and other sources.
Still, Jacobson called the decision to formally investigate a significant development.
"It is very significant that the U.S. Department of Education has opened this for a formal investigation," Jacobson told Fox News Digital. "That doesn't happen in every case."
"This is a preliminary step, but it's a very large preliminary step," he added.
The EPP's complaint argues the scholarships violate Title VI and Title IX, as well as the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, because FSU is a public university. It also argues the programs run afoul of Florida law and FSU's own nondiscrimination policy. Those remain allegations that OCR will now investigate.
Jacobson said his organization is not seeking to eliminate the scholarship money.
"We do not want the scholarships disbanded or shut down," he said. "We want the discrimination disbanded and shut down. Keep the funding, give the students the money, but give everybody a fair shot."
The EPP is also calling on Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier and Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration to examine the programs.
"We hope the Attorney General and the Governor's Office will look into this," Jacobson said. "Why is one of the leading state schools in Florida so openly and pervasively discriminating in its scholarship programs?"
DeSantis' and Uthmeier's offices, and the DOE did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.