Attorney General Charity Clark has joined a coalition of 17 attorneys general in submitting a comment letter to the U.S. Department of Education (ED) opposing a proposal that would require colleges and universities to collect and submit detailed data linking race to admissions, financial aid, and student performance.
The ED claims that this expanded data collection is intended to help enforce Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race. However, Attorney General Clark and her colleagues argue that the proposed requirements would not support Title VI enforcement. They state that the proposal imposes significant burdens on educational institutions, raises concerns about student privacy, and is unlikely to result in useful data.
According to the coalition’s letter, “the proposal would not aid Title VI enforcement, imposes unreasonable burdens on schools and universities, endangers student privacy, and is unlikely to result in useful data being collected.” The attorneys general also point out that the Department of Education has not addressed substantial concerns previously raised after its National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) requested public comment on August 15 regarding these changes.
The initiative stems from an August 7 directive by President Trump for the ED to expand the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). This survey already collects information from higher education institutions but will now be expanded to gather more detailed data about undergraduate and graduate admissions processes—including information broken down by race and sex related to application numbers, admission rates, enrollment figures by test scores, GPA, family income, Pell Grant eligibility, parental education levels; as well as average high school grades and test scores; counts of students admitted via various admissions pathways; details about financial aid received; cost of attendance; graduation rates; and final cumulative GPAs.
Following the initial request for public feedback issued on August 15 with a 60-day comment period, the Department issued another request for comments on November 13. Submissions are open until December 15.
In their letter urging withdrawal or at least delay of implementation of these new rules so stakeholders can provide more input, Attorney General Clark joins counterparts from California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, Oregon, Washington State and Wisconsin.
