Boston Judge Halts Trump's Rushed College Race Data Push

A federal judge in Boston halted the Trump administration's effort to force colleges and universities to prove they are not considering race in admissions. U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV granted a preliminary injunction Friday that freezes the data collection at public universities in the plaintiff states.

The judge sided with a coalition of 17 Democratic state attorneys general. While the federal government likely holds the authority to collect the data, the Education Department's rollout was so "rushed and chaotic" that it failed basic procedural requirements, Saylor wrote. The administration's 120-day presidential deadline "led directly to the failure of NCES to engage meaningfully with the institutions during the notice-and-comment process," he added.

The ruling does not cover Florida's public universities, which are not part of the plaintiff coalition. Institutions such as Indian River State College in Fort Pierce and Florida Atlantic University — both of which enroll thousands of Treasure Coast students and receive federal financial aid — remain subject to the data demands. Education Secretary Linda McMahon set a March 18 deadline for colleges to submit seven years of retroactive admissions data disaggregated by race and sex, under threat of action through Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965.

The states argued the collection risked student privacy violations and invited baseless federal investigations. "The data has been sought in such a hasty and irresponsible way that it will create problems for universities," plaintiff attorney Michelle Pascucci told the court.

The Education Department defended the effort, saying taxpayers deserve transparency about how federal money is spent. The administration's approach mirrors settlement agreements it reached with Brown University and Columbia University, which agreed to turn over applicant race, GPA and standardized test data in exchange for restoration of federal research funding.

The administration has also sued Harvard University for refusing to produce admissions records demanded by the Justice Department. Harvard says it is in compliance with the Supreme Court's 2023 ruling that banned the explicit use of affirmative action while permitting applicants to discuss how race has shaped their lives in personal essays.

For Treasure Coast families with students enrolled at IRSC or planning to apply to any Florida public university, the practical stakes are concrete. Federal financial aid eligibility — Pell Grants, Stafford loans and work-study — flows through Title IV, the same authority the administration cited as its enforcement lever. Any institution found noncompliant could face disruptions to that pipeline. Martin County School District officials have not yet commented publicly on how the litigation affects dual-enrollment agreements with IRSC. No date has been publicly set for a full hearing on the preliminary injunction.

This article was generated with AI assistance using publicly available information. It was reviewed and approved by a human editor before publication. TC Sentinel uses AI writing tools in accordance with FTC guidelines.