DeSantis: I’ll Remove Accreditation from Schools that Have Gender Studies, DEI

On Wednesday’s “Hugh Hewitt Show,” 2024 presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) stated that he’ll reform the college accreditation system so “instead of you have to have gender studies, or you have to have DEI to get accredited, it’ll be the opposite. We’re not going to accredit you if you have DEI and some of these other things.”

Host Hugh Hewitt asked, “As president, what can you do about tenure from K-12 and in colleges that are state-funded?”

DeSantis responded, “Through the accreditation cartel. So, we’re going to totally blow up the accreditation cartel. Right now, part of the reason universities operate [the way] they are is because they need to get accredited. And these accreditors are all trying to create the types of universities that we object to as conservatives. So, we’re going to have alternative accreditors. It’s going to be, instead of you have to have gender studies, or you have to have DEI to get accredited, it’ll be the opposite. We’re not going to accredit you if you have DEI and some of these other things.”

After discussing the changes at New College of Florida, DeSantis added, “Another thing we’re going to do is we’re going to make the universities responsible for the loans. That’s going to cause them to change their behavior, because they’re not going to be able to go on ideological joyrides with their curriculum knowing that if somebody gets out of the university and they can’t afford to get by, that the university may end up being on the hook. So, you’re going to see much more focus in terms of the subjects that are going to be offered because of those incentives.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett