Federal Judge Delays Deadline for Colleges to Submit Race Data in Admissions

The Massachusetts-led lawsuit argued that new survey reporting, intended to ensure that race is no longer a factor in university admissions, is illegal.

Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., on July 4, 2025. Learner Liu/The Epoch Times

A federal judge on Friday temporarily extended the deadline for colleges and universities to finish a federal survey on admissions data showing that they are not considering race in admissions, allotting institutions until March 25 as opposed to March 18.

U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV in Boston issued the temporary restraining order in a lawsuit brought by Massachusetts and 16 other states against the Department of Education, Education Secretary Linda McMahon, the Office of Management and Budget, and its director, Russell Vought.

The plaintiffs in their suit filed on March 11 claim that the Trump administration’s implementation of the Admissions and Consumer Transparency Supplement (ACTS) survey, which requires colleges to gather and submit race-related admissions data, is illegal and is an unnecessary burden on institutions.

Saylor made the decision following the state’s filing of an emergency motion, saying that the extension was a way of allowing time for a hearing and a review of the dispute.

“In order to permit a hearing and orderly resolution of the issues, the Court hereby issues a temporary restraining order extending the deadline to complete the ACTS survey through March 25, 2026,” Saylor wrote.

The order pushes the deadline out “through March 25, 2026, and temporarily restraining defendants from enforcing the deadline of March 18, 2026, without prejudice to a further extension of the deadline or other preliminary relief as justice may require,” the judge wrote.

Higher education institutions had been mandated to turn in the data by next week.

The ACTS survey requires colleges to detail admissions information—including acceptance rates, enrollment figures, incomes, average applicant grade point averages, and standardized test or SAT scores by race and gender. The data reporting is required by a Trump administration memorandum, called Ensuring Accountability in Higher Education, mandating the Education Department to broaden federal reporting to ensure transparency in admissions processes.

The survey would be used to assess colleges’ compliance with the ​Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling ending affirmative action in higher education.

President Donald Trump ordered the new policy in August 2025 after he raised concerns that colleges and universities were using personal statements and other proxies to consider race, which he said was illegal discrimination.

“Race-based admissions practices are not only unfair, but also threaten our national security and well-being,” the president wrote in the Aug. 7 memorandum. “It is therefore the policy of my administration to ensure institutions of higher education receiving federal financial assistance are transparent in their admissions practices.”

If colleges fail to submit timely, complete, and accurate data, McMahon can take action under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, which outlines requirements for colleges receiving federal financial aid for students, according to the memo.

The judge’s order only halts enforcement of the deadline to allow a more complete briefing and argument.