The Biden-Harris regime has turned the Department of Education (DOE) into a battering ram against Christian colleges and universities.
According to an explosive report by the American Principles Project (APP), the DOE’s Office of Enforcement, resurrected by President Biden, has disproportionately targeted faith-based institutions, imposing massive fines and creating a hostile regulatory environment.
According to the report:
Days before his inauguration then President-elect Joe Biden wrote in a statement that “ensuring freedom of religion remains as important as ever” and that government must safeguard “bedrock protections.” No one should be “afraid to attend a religious service, school, or community center,” the statement asserts.
That statement is not representative of what Joe Biden and Kamala Harris actually believe. Since assuming office, the administration has waged an unprecedented assault against Christian colleges, universities, and students, while systematically protecting “elite” public and private institutions, foisting woke ideology on reluctant students, and enabling antisemitic, violent protests on campuses across the nation.
It’s done so by weaponizing the Department of Education’s Office of Enforcement—an obscure subsidiary of the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) that was created with the implicit intent of shutting down schools and programs that do not conform to the administration’s radical agenda.
This campaign, which has been advanced under the auspices of protecting students from “predatory” colleges and universities, threatens to erode traditional family values from higher education and financially squeeze and shut down schools that align with Christians’ values and beliefs.
Data analysis from the American Principles Project reveals that nearly 70% of enforcement actions by the Department of Education targeted faith-based or career-focused schools, which represent less than 10% of the student population.
Institutions like Grand Canyon University (GCU) and Liberty University—two of the country’s largest Christian universities—faced record-setting fines of $37.7 million and $14 million, respectively.
These fines surpass all other penalties issued by the department in the last seven years combined, including “fines imposed on Penn State ($2.4 million) and Michigan State ($4.5 million) relating to Jerry Sandusky and Larry Nassar’s respective sexual crimes,” according to Fox News.
The APP report states:
In October 2023, the Department of Education assessed a record $37.7 million fine against GCU, despite not having completed written procedures for selecting or investigating colleges nor having updated its penalty procedures.
The penalty—which officials called the “largest of its kind” —was imposed for allegedly “not fully informing” students about the costs of GCU’s doctoral programs on its website. Doctoral students represent less than five percent of the school’s student body.
GCU “categorically” denied the allegations, noting that an independent accreditor described the school’s marketing and recruitment materials as “clear and transparent.”
The accreditor specifically said of GCU’s doctoral program materials: “The information and resources provided are robust and thorough, providing prospective students a clear picture of their academic and financial path toward a degree at GCU.”
In a letter to Secretary Cardona preceding the Department of Education’s announcement, GCU president Brian Mueller called the accusations “incredulous” and asked to “sit down and discuss these matters in a rational and productive way.”
That request seems to have been ignored. Mr. Mueller’s letter notes that GCU did not raise tuition for 15 years, does not “rely on state taxpayer subsidies as state universities do,” and that GCU graduates incur “less debt than the national average.”
Originally established under the Obama administration, the Office of Enforcement was resurrected by Joe Biden and given an unprecedented budget increase of nearly 600% last year, and “it has requested another almost 230% raise this year.”
This obscure agency has become the administration’s tool to dismantle Christian colleges under the pretense of enforcing compliance. Its actions disproportionately target schools that refuse to conform to progressive ideologies, particularly on issues like LGBTQ+ policies and gender identity.
According to APP’s press release, “At least 12 Christian colleges have been the target of excessive penalties or banned from receiving federal student aid; by comparison, no Ivy League school has been the recipient of punitive action by the Office of Enforcement. The average fine against a Christian school for a Clery Act violation was $815,000, compared to $228,571 against public and private institutions.”
The targeting of Christian colleges extends beyond penalties. The Biden Administration has rolled back protections for religious student groups and implemented policies to limit religious expression on campuses.
This blatant hostility is underscored by the administration’s prioritization of enforcing Title IX regulations and Clery Act violations at Christian schools while neglecting similar issues at state-run and Ivy League institutions.
You can read the full report here.
This comes as no surprise, considering that Biden’s FBI previously issued a memo warning agents about the so-called “radical traditionalist Catholic ideology,” which it deemed a growing threat in the country. The memo, revealed by former FBI special agent Kyle Seraphin, was published on UncoverDC.com.
Not only that, the FBI agents engaged in outreach to Catholic leaders to spy on Americans practicing their Christian faith.
“We now know the FBI, relying on information derived from at least one employee, sought to use local religious organizations as ‘new avenues for tripwire and source development,’” according to the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government.
#BREAKING: We now know the FBI, relying on information derived from at least one employee, sought to use local religious organizations as “new avenues for tripwire and source development.” pic.twitter.com/97veIGtvq4
— Weaponization Committee (@Weaponization) April 10, 2023
