Central Arkansas to review race- and sex-based scholarships

The University of Central Arkansas will review every program, scholarship, and activity with race- or sex-based preferences under a new agreement with the U.S. Education Department. The university has 60 days to complete this review and report its findings to the department's Office for Civil Rights (OCR).

According to a letter from OCR, investigators had identified concerns that the university administers or promotes scholarships that discriminate based on sex or race. The department will monitor the agreement for two years to ensure compliance with federal law.

The initial complaint

The resolution follows a complaint filed in October 2025 by the advocacy group the Equal Protection Project. The group argued that ten scholarships administered by the UCA Foundation were discriminatory because they were designated for students of specific racial backgrounds or a particular sex. One example cited was the Jennifer J. Westpfahl Women in Finance Scholarship, which is for female finance students.

OCR stated that the university acknowledged the scholarships were restricted by sex or race and did not assert a legal justification for how they were administered.

University response and modifications

UCA spokeswoman Tiffany Head said the university has been proactively updating scholarship criteria. In a statement, she noted that eight of the scholarships referenced in the complaint were modified before the resolution agreement. The other two are on hold pending revised eligibility guidelines.

"The UCA Foundation has been proactively reviewing and updating scholarship eligibility criteria over multiple years to ensure compliance with federal requirements," Head said. "Many scholarships had already been modified, but in some cases, older documentation still appeared online while system updates were finalized."

She added that the university continues to work collaboratively with OCR.

Broader context and advocacy reaction

The agreement arrives amid heightened scrutiny of race-based scholarships following the Supreme Court's 2023 decision striking down race-conscious admissions. Colleges have sought to alter scholarship criteria, sometimes facing resistance from the original donors.

William Jacobson, who leads the Equal Protection Project, celebrated the agreement in an online post. He called it "may be one of our clearest victorys" and expressed hope it would become a model for future civil rights resolutions.

Jacobson praised the requirement for a university-wide review, including programs with outside entities. "It addresses the 'hide and seek' and rebranding games universities play, as well as the whack-a-mole problem where the university ends or modifies one program only for another to pop up elsewhere," he wrote. "This is a whole-of-university approach, and we love it."

If Central Arkansas chooses to continue any program with a race- or sex-based preference, it must now explain why it believes that policy is consistent with federal law.