Guidance regarding June 2026 HUD Dear Colleague Letter

Background

In a June Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Trump administration makes the case that housing that caters to minority students violates the Fair Housing Act. 

Like the February 2025 anti-DEI DCL from the Department of Education, this DCL is designed to confuse and create a chilling effect in which institutions proactively and pre-emptively adjust their operations. As was the case with the February 2025 DCL, the Alliance’s guidance remains the same: Institutions are generally not engaging in any policies or practices that are antithetical to civil rights. Inside Higher Ed’s coverage of this letter includes experts signaling that this DCL will be opposed through litigation. 

Analysis

Of course, colleges and universities don’t typically have housing, clubs, or other forms of social life in which specific groups are excluded. Institutions that were in compliance with the Fair Housing Act in 2023 are still in compliance with it in 2026. The letter signals that ‘diversity,’ ‘multiculturalism,’ ‘safe spaces,’ and ‘intersectional allyship’ will now be couched as ‘neo-segregationist.’ This DCL adopts a framing and language that seeks to strip away the rights of students under the auspices of Civil Rights law. Institutions should continue their operations and not pre-emptively make any adjustments while this letter, which lacks a strong legal foundation, is challenged through the legal system.