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Accreditation guidelines tell faculty and administrators to ‘model anti-racist’ practices
America’s largest accreditor of social work higher education programs still includes diversity, equity, and inclusion among its standards despite the Trump administration’s scrutiny of ideological mandates in higher education.
The Council on Social Work Education is the “national association representing social work education in the United States,” according to its website. Its members include “more than 900 accredited baccalaureate, master’s, and practice doctorate degree social work programs and their affiliated social work educators, students, and staff.”
The guidelines by which CSWE accredits institutions were last updated in 2022, and include “Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” as one of its competencies.
This requires institutions to provide examples of “specific and continuous efforts” to promote their DEI curriculum.
The policy reads, “Programs provide the context through which students learn about their positionality, power, privilege, and difference and develop a commitment to dismantling systems of oppression, such as racism, that affect diverse populations.”
DEI goals at other institutions and accreditation groups have drawn criticism from the federal government.
President Donald Trump issued an executive order in April that mandates that “accreditors require member institutions to use data on program-level student outcomes to improve such outcomes, without reference to race, ethnicity, or sex.”
Additionally, late last month, the Department of Education announced five new appointees to the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity specifically to examine higher education accreditors’ policies.
“We can no longer accept a protectionist system in which a few powerful non-governmental entities gatekeep billions in federal student aid and licensure opportunities, overlook poor student outcomes, contribute to rising college costs and degree inflation, and prioritize divisive DEI standards over the skills students need to compete in the next-generation workforce,” Under Secretary Nicholas Kent stated in a news release.
However, a spokesperson for CSWE was non-committal when The College Fix asked if the council plans to update the guidelines in light of the Trump administration’s actions.
Spokesperson Matt Hooper said via email that the accreditation guidelines “are revised and released every 7 years, with the next edition coming in 2029. Until then, any updates on that process will be announced on our website.”
When asked in a follow-up email what changes might be considered, Hooper told The Fix, “The best I can tell you is that whenever we have updates pertaining to accreditation, we will post them to the website.”
The College Fix also reached out to the Department of Education’s press office for comment multiple times via email, asking about the social work accreditor, DEI, and Trump’s executive order, but did not receive a response.
On the accreditor’s website, its Accreditation page states, “A value of social work as the degree of choice is in the fact that graduates from undergraduate and graduate social work education programs can critically think, problem solve, and advocate for justice, equity, inclusion, and diversity.”
It continues, “Programs recognize the pervasive impact of White supremacy and privilege and prepare students to have the knowledge, awareness, and skills necessary to engage in anti-racist practice.”
Additionally, the accreditation guidelines tell faculty and administrators to “model anti-racist and anti-oppressive practice and respect for diversity and difference [and] foster an equitable and inclusive learning environment …”
Regarding college students, the accrediting group states that they “are responsible for their learning, collaborating with peers and colleagues, and practicing with historically and currently oppressed populations through an anti-racist lens.”
The previous standards, introduced in 2015, only listed “Diversity” as a program goal.
The Heritage Foundation, whose senior research fellow Jay Greene sits on the Education Department advisory committee looking into higher education accrediting agencies, declined to comment when contacted by The Fix.
MORE: Leading medical accreditor closes DEI department, ditches related mandates
