Trump’s efforts to collect race-based college admissions data lead to fears of retaliation

One court case is what stands between the Trump administration and race-based data from colleges regarding admissions, which could be used to go after schools the federal government perceives as violating a 2023 Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action. 

District Judge F. Dennis Saylor this week gave colleges in the states that sued over the demographics demand an extension until April 6 to complete the “Admissions and Consumer Transparency Supplement” (ACTS) as he weighs the legality of the request for seven years of admissions data broken down by race and other factors.  

While the Trump administration argues the call is an extension of other data collection efforts, plaintiffs say it places an undue burden on universities that could produce faulty information the president would use to further his attacks against higher education. 

The new requirements build on the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), which has been used for years to track data on college graduation rates, degree completions, enrollment and other general information about an institution.  

The administration wants to increase its data demands over concerns universities are not abiding by the Supreme Court decision to ban affirmative action in admissions.  

“Although the Supreme Court of the United States has definitively held that consideration of race in higher education admissions violates students’ civil rights, the persistent lack of available data — paired with the rampant use of ‘diversity statements’ and other overt and hidden racial proxies — continues to raise concerns about whether race is actually used in practice,” President Trump wrote in a memorandum directing the Education Department to collect more admissions data last year. 

“Greater transparency is essential to exposing unlawful practices and ultimately ridding society of shameful, dangerous racial hierarchies,” he added. 

Seventeen Democratic-led........

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