Judge temporarily halts Trump demand for race-based admissions data from universities

A judge ruled on Friday to temporarily stall efforts by the Trump administrations demanding race-based admissions data from universities.  

U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor ruled in favor of the 17 blue states that challenged the administration’s new reporting requirements, arguing they were costly and burdensome to universities.  

The Trump administration wants to implement the “Admissions and Consumer Transparency Supplement” (ACTS), which would require years of admissions data based on race and other aspects to be given to the federal government.  

Saylor extended the deadline for the survey to be completed to March 25 while he considers the states’ case.  

“The Trump Administration is on a fishing expedition — demanding unprecedented amounts of data from our colleges and universities under the guise of enforcing civil rights law,” said California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who represents one of the lead states in the lawsuit.   

“This is the same administration, I’ll remind you, that gutted the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, leaving thousands of civil rights complaints and investigations in limbo. This latest sham demand threatens to turn a reliable tool into a partisan bludgeon. California is committed to following the law — and we’re going to court to make sure the Trump Administration does the same,” Bonta added. 

The states also argue that the amount of data the department wants would make the information unusable. 

“American taxpayers invest over $100 billion into higher education each year and deserve transparency on how their dollars are being spent. The Department’s efforts will expand an existing transparency tool to show how universities are taking race into consideration in admissions. What exactly are State AGs trying to shield universities from?” said Ellen Keast, press secretary for higher education at the Education Department.  

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