BATON ROUGE — The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights opened an investigation into the Louisiana Board of Regents on Friday to determine if its Master Plan for Higher Education violated a portion of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by allowing racially-exclusionary practices and initiatives.

In its budgets for the 2021-2022 and 2025-2026 fiscal years, the Board of Regents, which oversees all public colleges and universities in the state, included performance objectives requiring schools to prioritize students of "all races other than white [and] Asian" according to public records.

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in education programs and activities receiving federal funding. 

The Board's stated goal to increase the number of "underrepresented minorities" earning a degree or credential in an academic year created a target to raise the enrollment and graduation numbers of "all races other than white, Asian" from a baseline of 14,579 in the 2020-2021 school year to 16,000 in the 2025-2026 school year. 

"The Louisiana Board of Regents’ objective to prioritize recruitment and graduation efforts for 'all races other than white [and] Asian appears to blatantly violate not only America’s antidiscrimination laws, but our nation’s core principles," Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey said.

"This is unacceptable," the 13th Secretary of Education Linda McMahon wrote in a social media post. "We will uphold fairness and equal opportunity for students."

Board Chair Misti S. Cordell from the Louisiana Board of Regents issued an official statement to WBRZ on Friday, saying, "We received the U.S. Department of Education's letter today. We will provide all requested information as it relates to our Master Plan and the state budget. We are committed to being aligned with Governor Landry's and President Trump's administrations." 

Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry also commented on the investigation on social media, writing, "Over the last two years, my administration has taken steps to eradicate unfair and harmful DEI practices from Louisiana's higher education system."

Landry went on to welcome the investigation, hoping to "shed light on any areas where DEI is still seeping into our systems. 

Over the last 2 years, my administration has taken steps to eradicate unfair and harmful DEI practices from Louisiana’s higher education system. We welcome the @usedgov investigation to shed light on any areas where DEI is still seeping into our systems.

Our administration has… https://t.co/BXcR6iMG3X

— Governor Jeff Landry (@LAGovJeffLandry) February 13, 2026