Seventeen states, led by Democratic attorneys general, have initiated legal action against the Trump administration, contesting a policy that compels higher education institutions to collect and report data on race in admissions. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Massachusetts, argues the mandate is arbitrary, capricious, and enacted without proper legal vetting.
The core of the dispute centers on the U.S. Department of Education's demand for detailed student and admissions information, ostensibly to ensure colleges are not engaging in racial preferences. This policy, stemming from President Trump's August directive, emerged from concerns that institutions were employing proxies, such as "diversity statements," to consider race in admissions decisions, which the administration views as illegal discrimination.
States contend that the data collection demands are not only legally flawed but also pose risks to student privacy, potentially making individuals identifiable. They further argue the rushed implementation of the policy leaves institutions vulnerable to errors, unreliable data, and unfounded investigations, with the possibility of financial penalties. The suit alleges violations of the Administrative Procedure Act, the law governing how federal agencies create new policies, and seeks to halt the mandate's implementation.
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The affected states include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. These states, along with others, have historically sought to build diverse student bodies. The policy's introduction follows years of debate over affirmative action in higher education, with conservative groups arguing that race-conscious admissions have disadvantaged white and Asian applicants. The government intends to use the collected data through the 'Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System' (IPEDS), which gathers information from institutions receiving federal aid.