AG Campbell and Governor Maura Healey issued updated joint guidance today to support Massachusetts’ higher education and K-12 institutions in their work to further equal access and representation in education in response to recent Executive Orders by President Trump and a U.S. Department of Education “Dear Colleague” letter dated February 14, 2025. Under the joint guidance, Massachusetts educational institutions should continue their work to foster diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility among their student bodies. Longstanding legal precedent has established that educational institutions may take steps to build student bodies that are meaningfully diverse across numerous dimensions, like geography, socioeconomic status, race, and sexual orientation and gender identity, among others.

“I’m proud to partner with the Healey-Driscoll Administration and Secretary Tutwiler and in updating guidance to affirm that Massachusetts schools can continue efforts to ensure diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility. Despite the Trump Administration’s continued attempts to create confusion and anxiety, the law has not changed, and schools must continue their work to make sure that every student, regardless of background, can access educational opportunities in the Commonwealth.”- AG Campbell