On Friday, a judge in Boston issued a temporary order blocking a directive from President Trump that required universities to collect and submit detailed data on race and admissions. This ruling provides a brief pause for 17 Democratic attorneys general who had filed a lawsuit against the policy.
U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV, appointed by George W. Bush, blocked the government from demanding that universities promptly release this detailed information.
Last August, President Trump introduced this initiative as part of a wider effort to end the use of race in college admissions, which followed a Supreme Court decision earlier in 2023 that prohibited “race-conscious” admissions.
The ruling has pushed many universities to overhaul their admissions practices for the first time in decades. However, Trump and several Republicans have voiced concerns over perceived noncompliance, arguing that many institutions have not made the necessary adjustments swiftly or thoroughly enough.
In his August memo, Trump instructed Education Secretary Linda McMahon to require colleges to report additional data to ensure greater transparency in admissions.
As part of this agenda, all federally funded colleges and universities were ordered to provide extensive data on race and gender enrollment, as well as total undergraduate applications and enrollments spanning several years.
In response to the directive, the Democratic attorneys general who filed the lawsuit claimed that the administration hadn’t allowed enough time to gather the comprehensive data, which includes about seven years of information. They also contended that the Trump administration is trying to turn the Department of Education’s statistical agency into a tool for law enforcement and to push partisan objectives.
Judge Saylor’s temporary restraining order extends the deadline by 12 days, pushing it to March 25, allowing the court time to review the states’ claims and come to an organized resolution.
As of now, it remains unclear whether the Trump administration will appeal this order, and neither the Department of Justice nor the Department of Education provided immediate comments on the matter.
