By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -College Board, the non-profit administrator of the SAT college admissions exam, has said it is discontinuing a tool aimed at helping to identify promising college applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds and neighborhoods.

President Donald Trump's administration has been pressuring universities and colleges to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion policies and has threatened to cut their federal funding if they don't comply.

The Trump administration says such practices disregard merit and their focus on marginalized groups such as ethnic minorities, women and the LGBT community puts white people and men at a disadvantage. Civil rights advocates say DEI helps to address historic and generational inequality.

"As federal and state policy continues to evolve around how institutions use demographic and geographic information in admissions, we are making a change to ensure our work continues to effectively serve students and institutions," the nonprofit company said in a statement.

It has discontinued Landscape, a tool used by college admissions officers to review applicant data related to neighborhoods and schools, among other parameters.

A Brookings Institute study in 2022 found that Landscape marginally increased admissions offers for students from disadvantaged areas but it did not cause a rise in the actual enrollment of such students.

The administrator of the SAT college admissions exam said Landscape "was intentionally developed without the use or consideration of data on race or ethnicity."

Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a memo in July warning federal fund recipients to use universally applicable criteria, such as academic merit or financial hardship, applied without regard to protected characteristics or demographic goals.

Trump has threatened funding cuts for institutions over pro-Palestinian student protests against U.S. ally Israel's war in Gaza, and over climate initiatives, transgender policies and DEI.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Edmund Klamann)