US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that aims to overhaul university accreditation, a process colleges must go through to receive federal financial aid.

The accreditation order, a tool Trump referred to as his “secret weapon” during his campaign, comes as part of the president’s larger effort to reshape US universities, which he argues have been corrupted by left-wing ideologies.

The order accuses university accreditors, which are independent of the US government, of having “abused their enormous authority”.

Since taking office, Trump has moved to strip funding from universities over alleged antisemitism, and also pressured them to change certain academic programmes.

The executive order was one of seven orders focused on education which the president signed at the White House on Wednesday.

The order on accreditation accuses accreditors of having focused more on leftist ideology, including diversity, equity and inclusion programmes, rather than academic results.

“American students and taxpayers deserve better, and my Administration will reform our dysfunctional accreditation system so that colleges and universities focus on delivering high-quality academic programs at a reasonable price,” the order states.

US accreditors play a key role in determining which universities are allowed to access billions of dollars in federal funding each year.

Trump and his allies have accused the accreditor groups of being a cartel which stifles academic diversity. The accreditors have denied that they are pushing any political agenda on campuses.

Trump’s order makes it easier for universities to choose their accreditors, and for new higher learning institutions to become accredited. It also directs the government to “take appropriate action to terminate unlawful discrimination” found in the accreditation process.

The move comes as Trump continues his crackdown on institutions of higher learning.

He has stripped funding from some of the country’s top universities, including Columbia and Harvard, demanded changes to their academic programmes, accused university leadership of tolerating antisemitism on campus, and moved to deport international students who have vocally opposed Israel’s actions in Gaza.

He has also moved to dismantle the US Department of Education.