President Donald Trumpsigned a memorandum on Aug. 7 to expand requirements for colleges to report their admissions data and prove they're not unlawfully considering race. The memo directs Education SecretaryLinda McMahonto revamp higher education data collection, broaden the scope of reporting requirements from the federal government and double down on punishments for schools that submit erroneous information. The White House said the move will make the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, or IPEDS – the main national repository for information on colleges and universities – more easily accessible and digestible for students and families. The timeline for implementing those reforms, however, is unclear. The National Center for Education Statistics, which isin charge of conducting surveys for IPEDsevery year, was reduced to just a handful of employees after the Education Department's mass layoffs in March. The agency also fired many staffers who oversaw contracts with outside vendors. Read more:Education Dept. layoffs by the numbers: Which staff were ousted, where cuts hit hardest The White House said the action will ensure that colleges submit the data required to verify they aren't engaging in race-based admissions in the wake of a2023 Supreme Courtruling outlawing the practice. Over the past six months, critics have suggested the Trump administration has exaggerated that decision as part of a broader campaign to end diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, programs on school campuses. "There is an effort to rhetorically overstate the holding," Jonathan Feingold, a legal scholar at Boston University,told USA TODAY in March, "so that institutions are overcomplying." Angel Pérez, the CEO of the National Association for College Admission Counseling, said the memo was intentionally vague. In his view, the government appears to be asking universities to justify why they choose to recruit in different regions of the country and world – a practice that he stressed is legal. "It seems to me like this administration wants to punish any institution that does not admit a majority of white students to their campus," he said. Read more:At selective colleges, fewer students are disclosing race in their applications The White House said the effort will ultimately provide the public with a better understanding of the factors schools consider in the admissions process. Zachary Schermele is an education reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at zschermele@usatoday.com. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele and Bluesky at @zachschermele.bsky.social. Joey Garrison is a White House correspondent for USA TODAY. Reach him on X at @joeygarrison. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Trump orders colleges to hand over more race-related admissions data
