President Donald Trump is predicted to take executive action Thursday to develop the kind of admissions data given to the federal authorities from faculties and universities — a transfer aimed toward boosting transparency relating to race-based admissions, a senior White House official stated.
In a presidential memorandum, Trump is directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to revamp a longtime US greater schooling database referred to as the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, which conducts surveys reviewing tendencies in areas like tuition and charges, admissions issues, enrollment and monetary support.
The memorandum, the senior official stated, instructs McMahon to “expand the scope of required reporting for institutions’ admissions data in order to provide adequate transparency” and to “increase accuracy checks” on that data.
In June of 2023, the Supreme Court ruled that schools and universities can now not take race into consideration as a particular foundation for granting admission, a landmark resolution overturning long-standing precedent that has benefited Black and Latino college students in greater schooling.
But since that call, the White House official stated, there may be not sufficient admissions data obtainable from universities, elevating “concerns about whether race is actually used in admissions decisions in practice.” The expanded data, the official stated, is predicted to confirm that.
It comes as Trump is extra broadly pushing for coverage modifications at faculties and universities, together with over Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives. The Trump administration has heralded multi-million-dollar offers in latest days with Brown University and Columbia University, and it stays engaged in a pair of lawsuits with Harvard University.
As a part of the cope with Columbia University, the varsity agreed to supply the federal authorities with admissions data exhibiting “both rejected and admitted students broken down by race, color, grade point average, and performance on standardized tests.” Thursday’s executive action seems to codify that for all different establishments receiving federal funding.