The Department of Education launched civil rights investigations into 45 universities, including three D.C.-area schools, on Friday over allegations that those schools had violated Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

The Ph.D. Project works with universities to increase the racial diversity of professors in business schools. Schools like Yale and Ohio State were named in the investigation.

The U.S. Department of Education on Friday said it has opened investigations into 51 colleges and universities across the country, including the University of South Florida, about issues such as racial preferences and race-based scholarships.

The University of Utah is counted among 45 American universities under investigation by the Department of Education for allegedly using