President Donald Trump issued an executive lawsuit Thursday directing universities to prove they were not considering enrollment.
Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images
President Donald Trump released an enforcement action Thursday afternoon requiring colleges and universities to submit data to verify that they did not illegally consider race in their admission decisions.
The order also requires the Ministry of Education to update the integrated higher education data system to make its data clearer for students and parents and to “increase the accuracy checks of data submitted by institutions through IPEDS” to fine them, with fines to sentence late, incomplete or inaccurate data.
Admissions against racial awareness praised the task as a transparent victory in college admissions, but others in the department criticized its vague language and questioned who in the department would collect and analyze data in the department.
“American students and taxpayers should be confident in the fairness and integrity of our country’s higher education institutions, including confidence in future physicians, engineers, scientists and other key workers who are critical to the next generation of American prosperity,” the order reads. “Ethnic-based admissions practices are not only unfair, but also threaten our national security and well-being.”
It is now up to Education Secretary Linda McMahon to determine which new admissions data institutions need to be reported. The government’s requirements for Columbia and Brown University to restore federal funding in negotiations may indicate what these requirements are. In consent with Brown, the government ordered the university to submit annual data, “to break down the performance of applicants, admitted students and recruited students by race, color, grade average and standardized tests”. Under the order, universities are expected to submit their admission data in the 2025-26 academic year.
What resources are available to implement new requirements remains to be seen. Earlier this year, the government razed to the ground, and the Ministry of Education staff have traditionally collected and analyzed institutional data. At the National Center for Education Statistics, only three employees remain at the National Center for Education Statistics, which operates IPEDS.
“It’s not only as easy as collecting data”
Since taking office, the Trump administration has launched a crusade against diversity, equity and inclusion in higher education, usually with the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling on weapons of assault.
In the 2023 case, the plaintiff’s anti-aggression action advocacy group’s fair admissions student, calling the action a “landmark step” to transparency and accountability for students, parents and taxpayers.
“For a long time, U.S. universities and universities have hidden opaque admissions practices,” said Edward Blum, SFFA president and long-time opponent of racial awareness enrollment, in a press release.
But advocates of university equality have issued an alarm that the order (which also claims that universities have been using diversity and other “open and hidden racial agents” to continue racially conscious enrollment to make the college stimulate universities to recruit fewer students of color.
“I would say that my members of my higher education community can’t say it. What the Trump administration does say is that if you don’t acknowledge enough white students to enter your institution, you’ll be punished,” Angel B. Pérez, CEO of the National Association for College Admissions Consulting, told The National Association for College Admissions Consulting, told Internal Advanced ED.
Like many of Trump’s orders against DEI, mission authorization relies on unclear terms and instructions. It does not define “race agents” (although the Justice Department memorandum released last week provides examples), but it outlines what data proves that agencies are or do not consider data that considers race during their admissions process.
In an interview Internal Advanced EDPaul Schroeder, executive director of the Federal Bureau of Statistics’ Professional Association Committee, questioned the government’s ability to execute presidential orders.
“Who will actually view this data without NCE? Who will understand this data? Will we have unified reports, or will it be the chaos of all these different colleges?” Schroeder said.
“It’s not just as easy as collecting data. It’s not just asking a few questions about the race and race of the person admitted to the applicant. It’s a lot of work. It’s a lot of hours. It’s a lot of hours. It’s a lot of hours. It’s not a lot of hours.”
