The U.S Department of Education’s (ED) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) opened a Title VI investigation into Stanford on Wednesday to determine whether a training program for teachers at the University’s National Board Resource Center (NBRC) discriminated against participants on the basis of race.
The investigation focuses on the Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) cohort within Stanford’s Graduate School of Education. Since its launch in 2023, the program has provided fully funded certification support to teachers who “identify as a person of color.” The California Teachers Association (CTA) and the UCLA National Board Project formed a partnership to run the cohort.
In the ED’s announcement, Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Kimberly Richey wrote that the University “appears to be conditioning access to National Board Certification programs based on skin color.” If these allegations are accurate, she wrote, Stanford is engaged in discrimination. Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color and national origin in educational programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance.
University spokesperson Luisa Rapport wrote that the cohort-based program “is not accepting new teachers and is being sunsetted” in a statement to The Daily.
According to Rapport, the program had been funded through grants from the CTA and the National Education Association. The broader NBRC remains open to any K–12 teacher pursuing National Board Certification regardless of race. Stanford, she wrote, “is committed to meeting its obligation under the federal Civil Rights Act.”
The federal probe follows a March 16 civil rights complaint against Stanford, filed by Defending Education. The conservative advocacy group has filed similar complaints against universities, school districts and state agencies over diversity initiatives.
The complaint alleged that the BIPOC cohort’s eligibility requirements — which until recently asked applicants to identify as a person of color — violated Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The program’s webpage was no longer publicly available as of Wednesday.
The investigation arrives amid a broader federal campaign against race-conscious programming in higher education. In a February 2025 letter to universities, the ED directed schools to dismantle DEI initiatives, citing the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard. OCR threatened to withdraw federal funding from institutions that maintained race-based practices.
Last August, Stanford shuttered its Office for Inclusion, Belonging and Intergroup Communication.
OCR investigations can result in voluntary resolution agreements with the institutions, or, in unresolved cases, referral to the Department of Justice.