The UI System adopted a new financial aid policy in September, removing race, color, national origin and sex from consideration for need and merit-based aid. The University’s Office of Student Financial Aid updated its website to reflect the changes, which were made to adhere to current legal standards.
The University is taking steps to align its financial aid programs with the new UI System policy, according to Patrick Wade, director of executive communications and issues management.
“As part of our implementation of the policy, we’re carefully reviewing scholarship selection criteria,” Wade wrote in an email to The Daily Illini. “Not all scholarships that mention race, gender, or cultural background will be affected, provided they are not awarded based on race, color, national origin or sex.”
Wade clarified that the policy will not impact scholarships that have already been awarded.
The policy was issued under the authority of UI System President Tim Killeen, “in consultation with system and university leadership,” according to Steve Witmer, assistant director of media relations for the UI System. University of Illinois Board of Trustees approval was not required.
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“The policy changes and process suggestions were made in accordance with and in consideration of federal and state nondiscrimination laws,” Witmer wrote in an email.
Over the last year, President Donald Trump has made higher education reform a priority, cutting research and fellowship funding and targeting diversity, equity and inclusion policies.
The University distributed a federal update Massmail in April that listed two main initiatives related to DEI: altering website language and reviewing selection criteria for opportunities that “may provide a specific benefit to an individual, such as scholarships.”
When asked if the new financial aid policy was influenced by federal guidance or directives from the Trump administration, Wade wrote that it “was adopted to affirm compliance with current legal standards, not in response to any specific directive from the current administration.”
Witmer told The DI the UI System provided guidance directly to each campus and that each campus is responsible for communicating and implementing the policy.
“Each university is implementing the policy and related guidance on a timetable that aligns with its local governance structures, administrative systems, and academic calendars,” Witmer wrote.
The UI System updated the eligibility criteria for the merit-based President’s Award Program since May. The PAP previously listed eligibility for consideration as “Students who will enhance the representation of the student body,” which has since been removed.
The OSFA website, which previously stated the requirements for the PAP included being from “historically underrepresented groups,” removed that phrasing earlier this year. It now states the program is open to all “without regard to any legally protected trait.”
The University also altered its recruitment and hiring process in April. The Office for Access and Equity wrote that hiring guidelines were updated to ensure there is no “bias or preference for or against any person based on their race, sex, or any other legally protected classifications.”
In its FAQ section regarding these changes, the OAE states the changes were in response to “Executive Order 14173 which rescinded federal affirmative action requirements regarding employment of minorities and women.”
Signed in January, Executive Order 14173, “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity,” was one of Trump’s earliest actions targeting DEI policies.
Trump’s proposed compact to universities
On Oct. 1, the Trump administration offered a conditional compact to nine colleges for preferential federal funding. The compact outlines a multitude of requirements, such as limiting international undergraduate enrollment to 15% of students and banning race consideration for scholarships.
Six of the nine schools rejected the initial proposal outright. The University of Virginia, which originally rejected it, later reached an alternate agreement with the Trump administration. The University of Texas and Vanderbilt University have not formally responded.
The University was not one of the nine original schools the Trump administration asked to sign the compact, which has since been opened to other colleges. Chancellor Charles Lee Isbell Jr. and Provost John Coleman said it’s unlikely the University will join.
“We do not view the compact that has been presented to these other nine institutions as a positive path forward on higher education reform,” Coleman said at a University Senate meeting on Oct. 13.
Coleman praised his alma mater — Massachusetts Institute of Technology — for rejecting the Trump administration’s proposal. Sally Kornbluth, MIT’s president, said the deal’s conditions restrict freedom of expression and MIT’s institutional independence.
“I think (MIT’s response) is a very well-written statement indicating why they will not be participating in the offered compact,” Coleman said. “The University would not be involved in a compact of that type with that list of demands.”
