5 times academic programs closed in 2025

Last year, then candidate Donald Trump ran on a platform to overhaul American higher education. His priorities included combatting DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion), undoing the Biden administration’s new Title IX regulations, and abolishing the U.S. Department of Education. 

Ever since President Trump signed an executive order declaring DEI to be “unlawful” and contrary to longstanding federal civil rights laws, his administration has played a pivotal role in numerous changes to academic programs.

These are 5 notable times academic programs closed in 2025:

1. Towson University closes gender studies department after only 11 students enrolled this fall

The Maryland-based university is relegating the department as enrollment had been in decline since a peak of 38 students in 2018. Beginning next year, Women’s and Gender Studies will be offered to students as a major or minor within the College of Liberal Arts. “We feel like we do our part in terms of educating students around issues of women, you know, women, gender equality, LGBTQ studies, to a broader audience than just majors,” former department chair Cindy Gissendanner told The Tower Light. Towson’s gender studies program gained official status in 1973 and became a department in 2002.

2. University of Pittsburgh shuts down DEI office in response to federal scrutiny

In June, the university announced its Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion would be replaced by the Office of Institutional Engagement and Wellbeing. Pittsburgh’s decision was a direct response to the Education Department’s Feb. 14 “Dear Colleague” letter informing colleges and universities that they may be at risk of federal funding loss should they continue to operate DEI programs and practices. Opened in 2015, the office served to “coordinate and expand Pitt’s ongoing commitment to and emphasis on diversity, and included the Offices of Affirmative Action and Title IX Compliance,” according to the university.

3. Purdue ends $34.9 million DEI-linked program after federal funding canceled

The Trump administration’s cancellation of funding for Purdue’s GEAR UP program prompted the university to discontinue its affiliation with the DEI-based project. The administration reportedly notified the university that the initiative ran contrary to the Education Department’s efforts aimed at “prioritizing merit, fairness, and excellence in education.” Administration officials also took issue with the program’s training that required hiring managers to “recognize and mitigate unconscious biases throughout the recruitment process.”

4. Boston University closes Ibram X. Kendi’s Center for Antiracist Research

Boston University made the decision to close Ibram X. Kendi’s anti-racist center after ongoing reports of financial challenges. In 2023, Kendi even suggested that it was racist to criticize the program’s decline. “Despite all the headwinds we faced as a new organization founded during the pandemic and the intense backlash over critical race theory, I am very proud of all we envisioned, all we created, all we learned, all we achieved—the community we built, the people we helped and inspired,” Kendi said about the center, which officially closed in June. The Center for Antiracist Research’s discontinuation coincided with Kendi’s departure to Howard University. Although Kendi was slated to lead Howard’s new Institute for Advanced Study, no website for the office is available as of publication.

5. DoD continues DEI crackdown with Naval Academy ending race-based admissions

The Trump administration’s move to end race-based affirmative action at the United States Naval Academy aligns with both the Supreme Court’s 2023 landmark ruling against the practice in college admissions, as well as President Trump’s executive order on “Restoring America’s Fighting Force.” Issued in January, the order specifically calls for military officials to ensure that “[n]o individual or group within our Armed Forces should be preferred or disadvantaged on the basis of sex, race, ethnicity, color, or creed.”