Judge Pauses Trump Demand for Student Race Data in 17 States
The New York Times • • general
Key Points:
- A federal judge barred the Trump administration from demanding detailed student admissions data from public colleges in 17 states that sued over the request, pending further legal decisions.
- The ruling extends a prior temporary order blocking the Education Department from enforcing a deadline for colleges to provide data on race, gender, test scores, and other admissions information from the past seven years.
- The coalition of Democratic state attorneys general argued the policy was rushed, politicized, and risked compromising data accuracy, describing it as a threat to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts.
- The policy, ordered by President Trump following a 2023 Supreme Court ruling limiting race-conscious affirmative action, aimed to prevent colleges from considering race in admissions, but many universities remain committed to diversity initiatives.
- Education Secretary Linda McMahon defended the policy as ensuring compliance with the Supreme Court ruling, while critics warn it could force schools to disclose sensitive student data and undermine efforts to admit diverse student bodies.
