The Trump administration’s effort to collect race-based college admissions data has hit a legal roadblock after a federal judge’s ruling blocked the White House from forcing institutions to submit detailed information about applicants’ race and sex.
U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV in Boston granted the preliminary injunction following a lawsuit filed last month by a coalition of 17 Democratic state attorneys general.
The decision affects nearly 3 million students enrolled at public universities in states including California, Massachusetts, New York, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.
Saylor claimed the demand was implemented in a “rushed and chaotic manner,” especially concerning since the National Center for Education Statistics has been reduced from approximately 100 employees to only three amid government layoffs.
He also acknowledged the federal government possesses the authority to collect the data. But found the implementation violated administrative law.
“The 120-day deadline imposed by the president led directly to the failure of [the National Center for Education Statistics] to engage meaningfully with the institutions during the notice-and-comment process to address the multitude of problems presented by the new requirements,” Saylor wrote.
The ruling characterized the survey creation as “arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, and not otherwise in accordance with the law”.
New York Attorney General Letitia James commended the decision, saying: “Students should not have to live in fear that their personal data will be handed over to the federal government. Schools should not have to scramble to produce years of sensitive information to satisfy an arbitrary and unlawful requirement.”
The U.S. Department of Education defended the policy and argued taxpayers deserve transparency regarding federal funding allocation at institutions receiving government support.
