States Sue The Trump Administration

April 15, 2026

Seventeen Democratic state attorneys general have filed a lawsuit against a Trump administration policy requiring colleges and universities to submit detailed admissions data broken down by race and sex. The policy, ordered by President Trump in August, mandates that institutions report race and sex information for applicants, admitted students, and enrolled students for the past seven years through the federal IPEDS data system. The attorneys general argue the requirements are rushed, create risks for inadvertent errors that could trigger penalties and investigations, and potentially compromise student privacy.

Who is affected

Colleges and universities receiving federal financial aid
Students at these institutions (privacy concerns)
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell and 16 other Democratic state attorneys general (plaintiffs)
Education Secretary Linda McMahon and the Education Department
Brown University and Columbia University (settlement agreements)
American taxpayers (cited by Education Department)

What action is being taken

A coalition of 17 Democratic state attorneys general is filing a lawsuit in federal court in Boston challenging the policy
The Education Department is requiring colleges to report data through the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS)
The National Center for Education Statistics is collecting new data on race and sex of applicants, admitted students, and enrolled students

Why it matters

This policy represents a significant enforcement mechanism for President Trump's concerns about colleges potentially using proxies to consider race in admissions following the Supreme Court's 2023 ban on affirmative action. The data collection affects thousands of institutions receiving federal aid and over $100 billion in taxpayer investment, creating tension between federal transparency demands and institutional concerns about privacy, accuracy, and operational feasibility. The outcome could determine how much oversight the federal government can exercise over college admissions practices and whether schools can be penalized for failing to meet these new reporting requirements.

What's next

No explicit next steps stated in the article

Read full article from source: The San Diego Voice & Viewpoint