A federal judge on Saturday halted efforts by the Trump administration to collect data that proves higher education institutions aren’t considering race in admissions.
The ruling from U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV in Boston granting the preliminary injunction follows a lawsuit filed earlier this month by a coalition of 17 Democratic state attorneys general. It will only apply to public universities that were plaintiffs.
The federal judge said the federal government likely has the authority to collect the data, but the demand was rolled out to universities in a “rushed and chaotic” manner.
“The 120-day deadline imposed by the President led directly to the failure of NCES (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 administration’s policy echoes settlement agreements the government negotiated with Brown University and Columbia University, restoring their federal research money. The universities agreed to give the government data on the race, grade-point average and standardized test scores of applicants, admitted students and enrolled students. The schools also agreed to be audited by the government and to release admissions statistics to the public.
I wasn’t clear on what data they’re requesting under the lawsuit, but if it’s the same data they say they requested from Brown and Columbia I find that kind of funny because my federally funded org was explicitly told by the fed we could not report race or gender statistics.
The federal judge said the federal government likely has the authority to collect the data, but the demand was rolled out to universities in a “rushed and chaotic” manner.
🧐
