JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Education Department is giving schools two weeks to eliminate race-based programs. It would penalize schools that consider race in scholarships, hiring decisions and other activities.

This move comes from the Trump administration and takes a hard stance on diversity programs in education.

The Education Department issued a letter Friday, warning schools they could risk losing federal funding for considering race. It gives institutions 14 days to comply.

It builds on a 2023 Supreme Court decision that found the use of racial preferences in college admissions unlawful.

The letter can be found here.

First Coast News spoke with University of North Florida students who shared similar concerns about the decision from Capitol Hill.

“It goes opposite of what this country was built on, which was minorities and people coming in an immigrant,” Ian Garvey, junior at UNF, said.

“America has an identity of being, you know, this diverse melting pot, and a way for us to, you know, facilitate that image is to incentivize and create programs that allow diversity in our schools,” Jahari Bynoe, sophomore at UNF, said.

“Many of these programs give students, like, just access to basic necessities and programs they wouldn’t get access to,” Venia Cadet, senior at UNF said.

Others are trying to understand the move and say this is what the people voted for.

“The people feel like, you know, we’ve reached that point where, like, we no longer need the diversity programs,” Ronald Oscar, UNF freshman, said.

“People voted for it,” Russell Odion, UNF freshman, said. “I feel like I can’t be against it, because that’s what people voted for it, and I respect their democracy.”

The Education Department argues any institution treating people differently based on race violates federal law, but some students disagree saying this hurts historically marginalized communities.

The Education Department also announced it canceled $600 million in grants for training teachers in topics like critical race theory and antiracism.