The US Department of Education has opened a civil rights investigation into Florida State University over 32 scholarship programmes alleged to discriminate on the basis of race or sex. The inquiry follows a complaint by the Equal Protection Project and could affect how the university designs and awards targeted financial support.

According to a Department of Education letter obtained by Fox News Digital, its Office for Civil Rights is examining the allegations. Equal Protection Project founder William Jacobson said FSU had one of the largest concentrations of allegedly discriminatory scholarships his organisation had encountered; the article text provided does not state the university’s response or the investigation’s outcome.