The schools under scrutiny include dozens of state schools and two Ivy Leagues. A number of private schools are also being targeted, including Georgetown, Rice, Vanderbilt, and New York University.

The department said Friday it had opened an investigation into UW-Madison and 44 other universities nationwide over alleged racial discrimination. The notifications came exactly a month after the department issued sweeping guidance threatening to pull funding from colleges that do not eliminate all considerations of race from policies and programs.