Education Department to Notify Columbia of Accreditation Loss Over Title IX, Officials Say

Accreditation Notice Expected January 16

The Department of Education plans to notify Columbia University on January 16 that it intends to terminate the university's accreditation over alleged Title IX violations, according to two university officials familiar with the matter and a plaintiff's attorney involved in related litigation. The notice, drafted by the Department's Office for Civil Rights after a 14-month review, accuses Columbia of failing to provide a discrimination-free environment for Jewish students during campus protests in 2024 and 2025, the officials said.

The action would place at risk roughly $5.1 billion in annual federal student aid, research grants, and loan eligibility connected to Columbia's seven schools, including Columbia College, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, one of the university officials said. The notice follows a January 13 meeting at Department headquarters at 400 Maryland Avenue Southwest in Washington between senior OCR attorneys and representatives of the university's legal team, the official said. The meeting began at 2:00 p.m. Eastern and lasted approximately two hours, the official said.

The Department will deliver the notice by certified mail and email to Columbia President Claire Shipman, who took office in July 2025, the second university official said. Columbia will have 30 days to request a hearing before an administrative law judge at the Department's Office of Hearings and Appeals, the official said. The notice will cite Middle States Commission on Higher Education, Columbia's regional accreditor, as the entity that must act on the Department's recommendation under 20 U.S.C. 1099b, the plaintiff's attorney said.

One of the university officials said the Office for Civil Rights sent a draft of the notice to Columbia's general counsel on January 10, giving the university 72 hours to respond before the formal delivery. The official said Columbia's legal team submitted a 34-page response arguing that the university had already implemented new protest policies and disciplinary procedures, but that OCR attorneys rejected the submission as insufficient.

Title IX Review and Campus Protests

The review began in November 2024 under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and was expanded in March 2025 to include Title IX after the Department received more than 400 complaints from students and faculty, the plaintiff's attorney said. The complaints allege that Columbia administrators allowed protest encampments on the Morningside Heights campus to create a hostile environment and that some faculty members participated in demonstrations that targeted Jewish students, the attorney said.

A student involved in the case said complainants provided OCR investigators with video footage, email exchanges, and copies of campus flyers distributed between April 2024 and May 2025. The student said investigators conducted on-site interviews at the Earl Hall administration building on November 18 and 19, 2025, and requested internal disciplinary records for 37 students accused of violating university protest policies. The student spoke on condition of anonymity because of fear of retaliation from peers.

The plaintiff's attorney said the Department's draft notice cites Columbia's failure to discipline students who occupied Hamilton Hall on April 30, 2024, and the South Lawn encampment that began on April 17, 2024. The notice also faults the university for reinstating several student groups without requiring them to denounce violence, the attorney said. The attorney added that investigators reviewed audio recordings of a May 2024 faculty senate meeting at which some professors called for amnesty for arrested protesters.

One of the university officials said Columbia's Office of Institutional Equity had completed its own review in August 2025 and concluded that no systemic discrimination occurred. The official said that report, which ran 156 pages, was provided to OCR but was not referenced in the draft notice.

Financial Stakes and Next Steps

Loss of accreditation would make Columbia ineligible to disburse Title IV federal student aid, affecting approximately 8,200 students who receive Pell Grants, subsidized loans, or work-study funds, one of the university officials said. The official said Columbia's $1.3 billion annual research portfolio, much of it funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, could also face immediate suspension if the notice is not resolved.

Columbia's bond rating would likely come under review within days of the notice, the second university official said. The university carries roughly $5.4 billion in outstanding debt, including $1.2 billion in taxable bonds issued in 2022 for the Manhattanville campus expansion, the official said. A downgrade could increase debt service costs by $18 million annually, the official estimated.

The plaintiff's attorney said the Department has scheduled a press briefing for January 17 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern to outline the findings, though the briefing could be postponed if Columbia seeks an emergency injunction. The attorney said at least three other universities, including the University of Pennsylvania and New York University, are under similar review and could receive notices by the end of January.

The White House and the Department of Education did not respond to requests for comment. A Columbia spokesperson declined to comment on pending federal actions but said the university remains committed to supporting all students and complying with federal civil rights laws.

Major outlets including the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the New York Times, and BBC had not reported the planned notice as of press time. The next 48 hours will determine whether Columbia files a preemptive lawsuit in federal court in Manhattan to block the notice before it is delivered.