Judge Halts Trump College Admissions Data

A federal judge, F. Dennis Saylor IV, in Boston issued a preliminary injunction halting the Trump administration's efforts to collect data from public universities to prove they are not considering race in admissions. The ruling followed a lawsuit by 17 Democratic state attorneys general, who argued the demand was 'rushed and chaotic,' risking student privacy and leading to baseless investigations. President Donald Trump had ordered the data collection in August, citing concerns about illegal discrimination after the United States — Supreme Court of the United States ruled against affirmative action in 2023. The United States — United States Department of Education defended the effort, emphasizing transparency for taxpayers. The administration's policy mirrored previous settlement agreements with Brown University and Columbia University, where they provided admissions data. The United States — National Center for Education Statistics was tasked with collecting this data, which was due by March 18 and required disaggregation by race and sex for the past seven years. Non-compliance could lead to actions under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965. Separately, the Trump administration has sued Harvard University over similar data, with the United States — United States Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights directing Harvard University to comply with data requests or face referral to the United States — United States Department of Justice.