(Hartford, CT) – A coalition of 17 state attorneys general has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, seeking to block new federal data reporting requirements for colleges and universities that they argue are unlawfully invasive and threaten student privacy.
The legal challenge, led by Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, targets a recent expansion of the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), a mandatory survey administered by the Department of Education. The new mandate requires higher education institutions to submit detailed admissions data disaggregated by race and sex, including retroactive information spanning the past seven years.
According to the lawsuit, the data collection is designed to track institutional compliance with the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which prohibited the use of race as a factor in college admissions. The plaintiffs argue that the new rules were implemented hastily and without proper guidance, setting a deadline of March 18, 2026, for institutions to comply.
“These data demands have nothing to do with fairness or the law,” Attorney General William Tong said in a statement announcing the suit. “These surveys are methodologically useless and inappropriately invasive. We’re suing to protect student privacy and the integrity of our college admissions systems.”
“The Department of Education’s demand represents the latest push by the administration to malign lawful diversity, equity and inclusion efforts,” Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said. “This requirement imposes undue burdens on higher education institutions and presents a real risk to student privacy.”
“This mandate puts Maryland’s colleges and universities in an impossible position — face the threat of federal penalties, or comply with vague, rushed rules, and risk exposing sensitive student data to a federal government that has already shown it will weaponize that information,” said Maryland’s Attorney General Brown. “We are going to court to protect Maryland students’ personal information and stand with Maryland colleges and universities in resisting these unreasonable and unlawful reporting requirements.
“The Trump Administration is on a fishing expedition — demanding unprecedented amounts of data from our colleges and universities under the guise of enforcing civil rights law,” said California’s Attorney General Bonta “This is the same administration, I’ll remind you, that gutted the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, leaving thousands of civil rights complaints and investigations in limbo. This latest sham demand threatens to turn a reliable tool into a partisan bludgeon. California is committed to following the law — and we’re going to court to make sure the Trump Administration does the same.”
The legal action centers on a memo issued by President Trump on August 7, 2025, which directed the Department of Education to utilize IPEDS to monitor race-conscious admissions practices. Following that directive, Education Secretary Linda McMahon introduced new reporting requirements. Despite opposition submitted during the public comment period in December 2025, the administration finalized the rules on December 18.
The coalition contends that the Department of Education failed to define critical terms within the new requirements, leaving universities uncertain about what data to provide while facing potential financial penalties for errors. The lawsuit also notes that recent staff reductions within the department have eliminated positions in offices typically responsible for assisting institutions with compliance.
Furthermore, the attorneys general argue that the granular level of student data requested could compromise individual privacy, potentially allowing for the identification of specific students. They state this places universities in a difficult position, caught between conflicting federal demands and their existing statutory obligations to protect student data.
Once again, this administration is trying to stretch the federal government’s authority to serve its own political agenda and target DEI initiatives,” said New York’s Attorney General James. “Colleges and universities should not be forced to turn over massive amounts of sensitive student data to satisfy another witch hunt. We are going to court to stop this unlawful mandate and protect institutions and students across the country.”
“The Trump Administration’s weaponization of data to further its anti-DEI social agenda unnecessarily burdens colleges and universities and puts student privacy at risk,” said Vermont’s Attorney General Clark. “This is another illegal attempt to take a trusted governmental tool and use it to further the Trump Administration’s political agenda, and we are going to court to stop it.”
“The new federal data reporting requirements compromise student privacy and threaten sham investigations of colleges and universities. The rush to roll out the new requirements has also left Colorado universities guessing what information they are supposed to provide and facing severe financial penalties if they guess wrong,” Colorado’s Attorney General Weiser said. “Under federal law, IPEDS is a statistical information system and not a civil rights enforcement or investigatory tool. The Education Department has gone beyond what the law authorizes IPEDS to collect and for purposes Congress did not authorize. That is why we are taking the Education Department to court.”
The complaint alleges that the implementation of the new requirements was arbitrary and capricious, failed to follow proper legal procedure, and violates federal law by placing an undue burden on educational institutions.
Joining Connecticut in the lawsuit are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaiʻi, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Washington.
Representatives from the Department of Education have not yet commented on the pending litigation.
