Following a lawsuit filed by 17 state attorneys general, U.S. District Court Judge Dennis Saylor IV in Boston has halted the Trump Administration’s efforts to require higher education institutions to prove they are not using students’ race in admissions decisions. The ruling only applies to public institutions.
In August, President Trump ordered colleges and universities to collect data on applicants and enrolled students’ race after he raised concerns that institutions were using students’ personal statements and other proxies to consider race in admissions. Although the U.S. Supreme Court banned affirmative action in 2023, the court did not prevent colleges and universities from considering how race has shaped students’ lives if applicants shared that information in their admissions essays.
Judge Saylor ruled that while the federal government does have the authority to collect the data, President Trump’s demand was rolled out to universities in a “rushed and chaotic manner.”
“The 120-day deadline imposed by the President led directly to the failure of NCES (National Center for Education Statistics) to engage meaningfully with the institutions during the notice-and-comment process to address the multitude of problems presented by the new requirements,” Saylor wrote.
In addition to their complaints about the hastiness of President Trump’s demand, the state attorneys general who filed the lawsuit argue that the request risks invading students’ privacy and may lead to baseless investigations of colleges and universities. In contrast, the Department of Education has defended the effort, claiming that taxpayers deserve transparency on how money is spent at public institutions that receive federal funding.
