The coalition led by Massachusetts argues new survey reporting, intended to ensure race is no longer a factor in university admissions, is illegal.
Seventeen states filed a federal lawsuit on March 11, seeking to block the U.S. Department of Education’s policy requiring colleges and universities to collect data showing they aren’t considering race in admissions.
In the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Boston, the states are challenging a new component added to the mandatory, annual surveys administered by the Department of Education, which would be used to assess colleges’ compliance with the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling ending affirmative action in higher education.
President Donald Trump ordered the new policy in August after he raised concerns that colleges and universities were using personal statements and other proxies to consider race, which he said was illegal discrimination.
Under the memorandum, additional information, including acceptance rates, enrollment figures, incomes, average applicant grade point averages, and standardized test or SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) scores by race and gender, is due on March 18.
“Race-based admissions practices are not only unfair, but also threaten our national security and well-being,” the president wrote in the Aug. 7 memorandum. “It is therefore the policy of my administration to ensure institutions of higher education receiving federal financial assistance are transparent in their admissions practices.”
The survey was altered after the president’s memorandum cited a lack of data to assess whether race remained an admissions factor after the Supreme Court’s decision, given the “rampant use of ‘diversity statements’ and other overt and hidden racial proxies.”
The memo directs Education Secretary Linda McMahon to require colleges to report more data “to provide adequate transparency into admissions.” The National Center for Education Statistics was tasked with collecting the new data, including the race and sex of colleges’ applicants, admitted students, and enrolled students. McMahon said in August that the data must be disaggregated by race and sex and retroactively reported for the past seven years.
If colleges fail to submit timely, complete, and accurate data, McMahon can take action under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, which outlines requirements for colleges receiving federal financial aid for students, according to the memo.
Since 1986, the government has used the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) to gather information from thousands of colleges and universities that receive federal aid.
