Students for Fair Admissions Files Federal Lawsuit Challenging Coast Guard's Race-Based Commissioning Program

ARLINGTON, Va., Oct. 7, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida challenging the U.S. Coast Guard's College Student Pre-Commissioning Initiative (CSPI), a scholarship-to-commissioning program that bars most students from applying solely because of the racial composition of their colleges.

The complaint is attached.

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Under the CSPI program, students may apply only if they attend a federally designated Minority-Serving Institution (MSI) or a campus where fewer than half of students are white. This means that thousands of otherwise qualified young Americans—students with the grades, character, and desire to serve—are denied even the opportunity to apply if their university's demographics do not meet the Coast Guard's race-based cutoff.

Edward Blum, president of SFFA said, "The Supreme Court has made clear that our nation's institutions may not sort individuals by race. America asks much of the men and women who choose to wear a Coast Guard uniform. We ask for competence, courage, and character—not a particular skin color."

Blum added, "Programs like CSPI are antithetical to the principles of equal treatment under law. Every American who is willing to serve should be given that opportunity, regardless of the racial makeup of their college."

Blum concluded, "Excluding patriotic and qualified students because of where they attend school, or what their classmates look like, is both unconstitutional and unfair."

Contact: Edward Blum
[email protected]
202-422-9588

SOURCE Students for Fair Admissions