The US Department of Education is investigating several top American universities over allegations of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia on campus, AFP reports.

The colleges targeted include the prestigious Columbia University, Cornell University and the University of Pennsylvania on the East Coast, known as Ivy League schools, as well as elementary, middle and high schools in the midwestern state of Kansas.

“Hate has no place in our schools, period. When students are targeted because they are or are perceived to be Jewish, Muslim, Arab, Sikh, or any other ethnicity or shared ancestry, schools must act,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a statement . The move comes after the Biden administration said it was acting to address “the alarming rise of reported anti-Semitic incidents at schools and on college campuses, since the October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel”.