Education Department scraps Biden-era race-based rules for doctoral degree grants
By Ryan King
Published Feb. 18, 2026
Updated Feb. 18, 2026, 2:53 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON — The Education Department has agreed not to enforce Biden-era rules in a federal grant program aimed at growing the number of underrepresented students obtaining doctoral degrees.
The guidelines for the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program had prompted a lawsuit from the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL), which the group has dropped after reaching a written agreement with the Trump administration.
“We knew that the Trump administration was gonna change their position, and so we wanted assurances that they were going to” apply it, WILL managing vice president and deputy counsel Dan Lennington told The Post.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon has pushed President Trump’s policy of eliminating race-based rules.
https://nypost.com/2026/02/18/us-news/education-department-scraps-biden-era-race-based-rules-for-doctoral-degree-grants/