Top US Business Schools Are Shutting Down DEI Initiatives
The government’s anti-DEI posture has schools retreating from decades-long partnerships meant to boost enrollment of underrepresented students.
Photo Illustration: 731; Photo: Getty Images
In the turbulence following George Floyd’s murder, a handful of the most selective business schools in the US turned to the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management to shore up their commitments to diversity. Founded in 1966 by a business school professor at Washington University in St. Louis, the Consortium recruits underrepresented minorities to member schools with a streamlined application and sharply reduced fees. It has grown rapidly in the past five years; 25 schools participated in the application cycle for enrollment this fall. According to the Consortium’s website, the organization “recruited” 854 students to those schools, the most in its history.
But early in July, prospective applicants got word that, for the admissions cycle for fall 2026, only 24 schools would participate. “Due to recent changes in state and federal policies,” the Consortium said in an email, McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin “has notified us that they will be ending our formal partnership.” The email, which a recipient posted to Reddit, suggested that McCombs was leaving reluctantly: “UT Austin has made clear that this decision is purely driven by regulatory compliance requirements, not by any dissatisfaction with our partnership or mission.” (A spokesperson for McCombs did not respond to multiple requests for comment.)