WASHINGTON (AP) – More than 50 universities, including the University of Minnesota, are being investigated for alleged racial discrimination as part of President Donald Trump’s campaign to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs that his officials say exclude white and Asian American students.

The Education Department announced the new investigations Friday, one month after issuing a memo warning America’s schools and colleges that they could lose federal money over “race-based preferences” in admissions, scholarships or any aspect of student life.

“Students must be assessed according to merit and accomplishment, not prejudged by the color of their skin,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement. “We will not yield on this commitment.”

Most of the new inquiries are focused on colleges’ partnerships with the PhD Project, a nonprofit that helps students from underrepresented groups get degrees in business with the goal of diversifying the business world.

Department officials said that the group limits eligibility based on race and that colleges that partner with it are “engaging in race-exclusionary practices in their graduate programs.”

The group of 45 colleges facing scrutiny over ties to the PhD Project include major public universities such as Arizona State, Ohio State and Rutgers, along with prestigious private schools like Yale, Cornell, Duke and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

A message sent to the PhD Project was not immediately returned.

Six other colleges are being investigated for awarding “impermissible race-based scholarships,” the department said, and another is accused of running a program that segregates students on the basis of race.

The Education Department said those schools are: Grand Valley State University, Ithaca College, the New England College of Optometry, the University of Alabama, the University of Minnesota, the University of South Florida and the University of Oklahoma at Tulsa.

An initial press release from the Education Department erroneously identified the University of Tulsa as one of the schools under investigation.

The department did not say which of the seven was being investigated for allegations of segregation.

The Feb. 14 memo from Trump’s Republican administration was a sweeping expansion of a 2023 Supreme Court decision that barred colleges from using race as a factor in admissions.

In a statement, University of Minnesota spokesman Jake Ricker said the school will “fully cooperate” with the Education Department’s investigation.

“The University regularly revisits the selection criteria across thousands of grants, scholarships, and other awards to our students, as well as educational and community programs. When needed, the University has made and will make updates to ensure continued compliance with all applicable laws,” Ricker said.

“The University of Minnesota is strongly committed to fostering a welcoming environment for students, faculty and staff from around the world. We will remain strongly committed to ensuring that the University continues to be an inclusive and discrimination-free environment for all.”

This is the second investigation the Department of Education has opened into the U of M since Trump took office in January.

On Feb. 4, the agency said it would examine the U of M along with four other schools over allegations of antisemitism related to protests against the war in Gaza.

Last spring, pro-Palestinian demonstrators formed an encampment on Northrop Mall to demand the university divest from companies that support Israel. In October, nearly a dozen were arrested after vandalizing and barricading Morrill Hall.