The Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel issued a decision on Wednesday declaring three National Science Foundation programs unconstitutional due to their consideration of race and gender in addressing disparities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics education.
The three programs targeted for termination were designed to help underrepresented students pursue STEM degrees, build capacity at Hispanic-serving institutions, and diversify the STEM faculty workforce. Together, these programs represented roughly $104 million of the $938 million Congress most recently allocated to the NSF for STEM education. The department indicated the freed funds may be redirected to other STEM education initiatives. The decision also identified two additional programs with unconstitutional elements but indicated they could continue if revised to remove gender and race-specific provisions.
The DOJ based its ruling on a 2023 Supreme Court decision banning race-conscious college admissions policies, applying an expansive interpretation to challenge federal funding mechanisms. The Office of Legal Counsel argued that the government may only take race-based action to remedy specific documented instances of past discrimination rather than to address broader societal disparities. The memo stated Congress had not provided sufficient evidence of illegal discrimination to justify the three programs’ continuation.
The NSF shifted its priorities in spring 2025 to align with the Trump administration’s policy direction. The administration has pursued a broader campaign against race-based programs, eliminating $350 million in funding for minority-serving institutions and warning that other college programs serving significant populations of racial and ethnic minorities may face similar challenges.
Some academic observers questioned the decision’s framework. Ebony McGee, a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor at Johns Hopkins University, argued the criteria were too narrow for programs designed to address historical access barriers, noting that discrimination in STEM fields operates through systemic and cultural factors rather than documented individual instances.
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