What happened
US District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV in Boston granted a preliminary injunction on 4 April blocking the Trump administration from enforcing a new admissions data survey at public universities in 17 states. The ruling halts the Admissions and Consumer Transparency Supplement, known as ACTS.
The survey required colleges to submit seven years of student-level data including race, sex, GPA, and standardised test scores. Judge Saylor, a George W. Bush appointee, wrote that the policy was created in a “rushed and chaotic manner” and gave universities an unrealistic 120-day deadline.
Why it matters
The ruling blocks the administration’s primary enforcement mechanism for policing whether universities still consider race in admissions. The Supreme Court banned affirmative action in college admissions in 2023, but the Trump administration has argued that some institutions are using proxies to continue the practice.
The lawsuit
A coalition of 17 Democratic state attorneys general, led by California and Massachusetts, filed the challenge. The states argued the data collection threatens student privacy and could lead to baseless investigations of higher education institutions.
Universities in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin are covered by the injunction.
What comes next
The administration can appeal the ruling. Judge Saylor noted the government likely has the legal authority to collect the data but said the process failed to meet basic administrative standards. The ruling also cited complications from the administration’s concurrent effort to dismantle the Department of Education.