Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks Trump College Race‑Data Order
A federal judge in Boston issued a temporary restraining order Friday blocking President Donald Trump from immediately compelling colleges and universities nationwide to turn over detailed admissions data by race and gender. U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV extended the administration’s deadline by 12 days, until March 25, to allow fuller consideration of a lawsuit filed by 17 Democratic state attorneys general. Trump’s August directive ordered Education Secretary Linda McMahon to have all federally funded schools submit several years of admissions, applicant‑pool, and enrollment data broken down by race and gender, framed as an effort to enforce the Supreme Court’s 2023 ban on race‑conscious admissions. The states argue they were given too little time to assemble seven years of records and accuse the administration of trying to repurpose the National Center for Education Statistics into a quasi‑law‑enforcement tool to advance partisan aims rather than neutral data collection. The ruling doesn’t decide the policy’s legality but slows a key piece of the White House’s campaign against perceived noncompliance with the affirmative‑action ruling, buying time for colleges and states that say the demand is onerous and politically driven.
📌 Key Facts
- U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV in Boston issued a temporary restraining order on Friday.
- The TRO blocks the Trump administration from immediately enforcing its new nationwide college race‑ and gender‑data reporting mandate.
- The order extends the administration’s compliance deadline by 12 days, through March 25, while the court considers a lawsuit brought by 17 Democratic attorneys general.
- Trump’s August memo directed Education Secretary Linda McMahon to require all federally funded colleges to submit multiple years of admissions, applicant‑pool and enrollment data broken down by race and gender.
- The suing states argue they lacked sufficient time to compile roughly seven years of data and say the policy tries to turn NCES into a partisan enforcement arm rather than a neutral statistical agency.
📊 Relevant Data
In 2025, African American SAT test-takers had a mean combined score of 904, compared to 1077 for Whites and 1229 for Asian Americans, resulting in an 173-point gap between African Americans and Whites, and a 325-point gap between African Americans and Asian Americans.
The Racial Gap in Scores on the SAT College Entrance Examination — The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education
African Americans comprised 12.5% of SAT test-takers in the Class of 2025, while only 17% of African American test-takers met the college and career readiness benchmark in both reading and mathematics, compared to 47% of Whites.
The Racial Gap in Scores on the SAT College Entrance Examination — The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education
Following the 2023 Supreme Court ruling banning race-conscious admissions, Black first-year enrollment at highly selective U.S. colleges (accepting ≤25% of applicants) dropped 18% from fall 2023 to fall 2024, from about 10,000 to 8,200 students, while Hispanic enrollment decreased 4%.
Did the end of affirmative action lead to fewer Black and Hispanic students? — The Hechinger Report
In 2023, the U.S. population was approximately 13.6% Black or African American alone, 19.1% Hispanic or Latino, 6.3% Asian alone, and 75.5% White alone (including those who identify as Hispanic), providing context for representation in college enrollment and test-taking.
United States - U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts — U.S. Census Bureau
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