Students and Taxpayers Are Still Paying Billions for Universities’ DEI Obsession

In red and blue states alike, public universities are forcing students and taxpayers to pump billions of dollars and millions of hours into mandatory “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) coursework. Even as President Donald Trump recently obliterated the federal government’s support for DEI, his executive order leaves academic instruction untouched. And, unfortunately, as the watchdog organization Speech First reported in 2024 that more than two-thirds of colleges and universities in the U.S. require undergraduate students to complete DEI coursework as part of their academic studies.

A new report released by the Goldwater Institute, where I work, has revealed that such requirements at public universities are extracting at least $1.8 billion from students and taxpayers to prop up DEI-based general education course offerings that effectively seek to turn millions of college undergraduates into a captive audience for ideological indoctrination. The report’s estimate is conservative: Many public universities have forced degree-specific DEI content to be embedded into the required coursework for all majors and/or given financial kickbacks to professors who infuse DEI content into their classes, meaning that the real financial investment in DEI-laden coursework is likely much higher than $2 billion.

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About the Author

Matt Beienburg

Matt Beienburg is the director of education policy at the Goldwater Institute and author of the new report “Billions for DEI in Higher Ed: The Cost of Indoctrination.”

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In red and blue states alike, public universities are forcing students and taxpayers to pump billions of dollars and millions of hours into mandatory “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) coursework. Even as President Donald Trump recently obliterated the federal government’s support for DEI, his executive order leaves academic instruction untouched. And, unfortunately, as the watchdog organization Speech First reported in 2024 that more than two-thirds of colleges and universities in the U.S. require undergraduate students to complete DEI coursework as part of their academic studies.

A new report released by the Goldwater Institute, where I work, has revealed that such requirements at public universities are extracting at least $1.8 billion from students and taxpayers to prop up DEI-based general education course offerings that effectively seek to turn millions of college undergraduates into a captive audience for ideological indoctrination. The report’s estimate is conservative: Many public universities have forced degree-specific DEI content to be embedded into the required coursework for all majors and/or given financial kickbacks to professors who infuse DEI content into their classes, meaning that the real financial investment in DEI-laden coursework is likely much higher than $2 billion.

MB

About the Author

Matt Beienburg

Matt Beienburg is the director of education policy at the Goldwater Institute and author of the new report “Billions for DEI in Higher Ed: The Cost of Indoctrination.”