Staff Reports
The latest from the American Principles Project suggests that President-elect Donald Trump has opportunities galore to shake things up, beginning with the Department of Education’s gung-ho efforts to target religious institutions and for-profit colleges. In a recent report, the APP slammed the department’s Office of Enforcement, which has apparently made a sport out of penalizing faith-based and career schools while these institutions only manage to educate a measly 10% of post-secondary students. Talk about shooting fish in a barrel.
According to Jon Schweppe, the APP’s policy director, the Education Department under the Biden-Harris duo has supposedly orchestrated a “long-running scheme” aimed at punishing these Christian colleges for not fitting neatly into the left’s ideological box. The irony here is rich; these so-called progressive defenders of education are going after those that dare to teach Christian values and counter the mainstream narrative. It’s almost as if they believe education should come with a side of ideological conformity.
Report: Biden administration 'weaponized' Education Department to target Christian, career schools – https://t.co/iylzr76i3b – @washtimes @twthigherground @APProject #1A #highereducation
— Valerie Richardson (@ValRichardson17) November 19, 2024
Trump seems primed to take a stand against this egregious targeting. Remember his first term? He managed to effectively neuter this very same Office of Enforcement, which was born during the Obama years and then got a rude awakening under Biden. The APP sees the incoming Trump administration as a golden chance to eradicate these bias-driven enforcement measures once and for all. After all, if the right can end an unjust crusade against faith-based institutions, it could mean a massive win for American educational diversity.
The APP didn’t come empty-handed. Their report, aptly titled “The Obscure Agency Leading a Crusade Against Christian Colleges and How New Data Proves the Bias,” reveals that a staggering 68% of enforcement actions since this office was reactivated have targeted religious or career schools. And while they’ve slapped Christian colleges with fines amounting to $51.2 million, other universities combined barely hit $38.3 million. Grand Canyon University, the nation’s largest Christian institution, recently took the brunt of it, hit with hefty fines for supposedly not sufficiently informing students about degree costs—a charge they staunchly deny.
But the statistics don’t lie. The report goes further to illustrate a double standard, where heavy-hitting fines are aimed at Christian colleges while old guard Ivy League schools seemingly sail by without a scratch. Shocking, isn’t it? Academic institutions connected to high-profile scandals or negligence barely see a fraction of the scrutiny. Meanwhile, Christian colleges are drowning in red tape and steep penalties, all while simply trying to uphold their values. The APP is calling on Congress to step up, demanding accountability for those in the Biden administration who have wielded the enforcement power like a sledgehammer against faith-based institutions.
The fight isn’t just about fines or enforcement; it’s about standing up for a corner of education that seems to be under siege. As Republican leadership gears up for the next term, this report could serve as both a warning and a rallying cry. After all, in a world where the right can have a seat at the table again, one can hope that the era of punitive measures against Christian colleges is on the brink of extinction.
