Trump administration probes 45 universities on race policies

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Education on Friday said its office for civil rights is investigating 45 universities, citing complaints that the schools engaged with a program that set eligibility based on race.

Since Donald Trump returned to the presidency in January, his administration has sought to limit efforts to provide support to people based on race, gender or ethnicity.

The Department of Education said the new probe announced on Friday followed allegations that the universities partnered with a program that seeks to increase diversity in college business schools.

The department said in a statement the activities violated a 1964 civil rights law, which was originally passed to reduce discrimination against non-white Americans.

While the statement announcing the probe did not say who was being harmed by the university programs, Trump and many U.S. conservatives have argued that efforts to increase diversity are unfair and discriminate against white Americans.

"Today’s announcement expands our efforts to ensure universities are not discriminating against their students based on race and race stereotypes," U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in the statement.

The Trump administration has also targeted universities for protests held in support of Palestinians, which the administration has described as anti-Semitic.

The administration earlier this month canceled $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia University in response to what it said was the Ivy League school's poor response to anti-Semitism on campus.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey and Jason Lange in Washington; Editing by Marguerita Choy)