Former President Donald Trump vowed to “reclaim” the educational system in the United States from the “radical left” that was responsible for “indoctrinating America’s youth.”
In a video posted to Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump revealed that he will establish the “College Accreditation System,” vowing to “fire the radical left accreditors” that have allowed higher institutions in the U.S. to teach Marxist ideology.
“For many years, tuition costs at colleges and universities have been exploding and I mean, absolutely exploding, while academics have been obsessed with indoctrinating America’s youth,” Trump said in his video. “The time has come to reclaim our once great educational institutions from the radical left and we will do that. Our secret weapon will be the College Accreditation System. It’s called accreditation for a reason.”
In the U.S., colleges, universities, and other programs are accredited by organizations that have been certified for quality by either the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA), the United States Department of Education (DoE), or both, according to the CHEA website.
Trump continued to accuse the accreditors of having “failed” to “ensure that schools are not ripping off students and taxpayers.”
“When I return to the White House, I will fire the radical left accreditors that have allowed our colleges to become dominated by Marxist maniacs and lunatics,” Trump said. “We will then accept applications for new accreditors who will impose real standards on colleges once again, and once and for all.”
Trump said:
These standards will include defending the American tradition and western civilization. Protecting free speech, eliminating wasteful administrative positions that drive up costs incredibly. Removing all Marxist diversity, equity, and inclusion bureaucrats. Offering options for accelerated and low-cost degrees, providing meaningful job placement and career services, and implementing college entrance and exit exams to prove that students are actually learning and getting their money’s worth.
States such as Florida and Texas have passed similar laws banning and removing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives from higher education.
On April 17, 2024, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) signed a bill ensuring that students in Florida would learn about the atrocities of communism.
Trump added that he would “direct the Department of Justice to pursue federal civil rights cases” against colleges and universities that “continue to engage in racial discrimination and schools that persist in explicit, unlawful discrimination under the guise of equity.”
This comes as anti-Israel protests and encampments have taken over campuses at Columbia University, Yale University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and New York University.
These schools would “not only have their endowments taxed but through budget reconciliation,” Trump said, adding that he would “advance a measure” to have the colleges and universities “fined up to the entire amount of their endowment.”