US Coast Guard Eliminates Race-Based Enlistment Preferences

The update is applicable to a Coast Guard program that only accepted students from Minority Serving Institutions.

Then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem participates in a tour at the U.S. Coast Guard Station Charleston in Charleston, S.C., on Nov. 7, 2025. AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool

The U.S. Coast Guard has eliminated race-based preferential enlistment for college students who wish to join the service and commission as officers, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a May 29 statement.

“The program in question, the College Student Pre-Commissioning Initiative (CSPI), includes a preference for students from educational institutions that meet certain quotas for specifically identified racial groups in their student bodies,” DHS said.