The United States Department of Education is investigating the University of Alabama here in Tuscaloosa over alleged racial discrimination, which could threaten the institution’s considerable federal funding.

The Department is being led by President Donald Trump’s Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon, a former professional wrestling promoter.

On Monday, McMahon announced that she would fire about half of the Department of Education’s staff as the first step of ultimately dismantling the entire Department, which employed more than 4,100 people in January.

One of the final missions of her Department of Education will apparently be to ensure that diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives are scoured from colleges and universities across America, and on Friday, the Department announced investigations into several dozen institutions, including the University of Alabama.

45 of the 52 investigations announced Friday are related to Universities that partner with The Ph.D. Project, which for 30 years has helped people earn doctorate degrees.

McMahon says dozens of universities and colleges have partnered with the organization but limited eligibility based on the race of participants.

The University of Alabama, though, is under investigation for something else – McMahon said her department is investigating six universities for allegedly awarding impermissible race-based scholarships and one university for allegedly administering a program that segregates students on the basis of race.

Those schools included:

• Grand Valley State University
• Ithaca College
• New England College of Optometry
• University of Alabama
• University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
• University of South Florida
• University of Oklahoma, Tulsa School of Community Medicine

She did not specify which of these categories Alabama fell into.

“The Department is working to reorient civil rights enforcement to ensure all students are protected from illegal discrimination. The agency has already launched Title VI investigations into institutions where widespread antisemitic harassment has been reported and Title IX investigations into entities which allegedly continue to allow sex discrimination; today’s announcement expands our efforts to ensure universities are not discriminating against their students based on race and race stereotypes,” said the former President of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. “Students must be assessed according to merit and accomplishment, not prejudged by the color of their skin. We will not yield on this commitment.”

“These OCR investigations are being conducted pursuant to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act (1964), which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin in education programs and activities receiving federal funding,” the Department’s announcement concluded. “Institutions’ violation of Title VI can result in loss of federal funds.”

In their 2024 Annual Financial Report, UA reported more than $143 million in revenue from federal grants and contracts. That number dwarfs all other revenue streams except tuition and fees which, after scholarship allowances, generated more than $516 million for UA last year.

The University of Alabama is also by far the largest employer in Tuscaloosa County, with almost 6,900 workers.

The University of Alabama is on Spring Break this week, and their communications directors did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the investigation announced Friday.

For updates on this matter if any more details are made publicly available, stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread.