Seventeen states — California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin and Washington — filed a joint lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, challenging the Trump administration’s mandate that colleges and universities share seven years of detailed data — including about applicants’ and enrolled students’ race and sex, standardized test scores, GPAs and other characteristics — by March 18, 2026. On March 13, 2026, the states moved for a temporary restraining order and a stay, and requested oral argument prior to the March 18 deadline.
While the Department of Education has offered a conditional three-week extension on reporting requirements, schools should closely monitor any ruling on the states’ motion.
Expanded IPEDS Reporting Requirements
Colleges and universities participating in federal student financial programs have long been statutorily required to report certain data — including financial information, admissions information and outcome measures — to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) for inclusion in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS).
On Aug. 7, 2026, President Donald J. Trump, expressing concern about “the rampant use of ‘diversity statements’ and other overt and hidden racial proxies,” directed Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to “expand the scope of required [IPEDS] reporting to provide adequate transparency into admissions.”
The Department of Education subsequently directed NCES to “collect data disaggregated by race and sex relating to the applicant pool, admitted cohort, and enrolled cohort at the undergraduate level, and for specific graduate and professional programs.” The Department also directed NCES to collect “quantitative measures of applicants and admitted students’ academic achievement such as standardized test scores, GPAs, first-generation-college student status, and other applicant characteristics, for each race-and-sex pair,” and to “expand the scope of the collection for enrolled cohorts to include data for each race-and-sex pair’s graduation rates, final GPAs, financial aid offered, financial aid provided, and other relevant measures.” The Department referenced the 2023 Supreme Court decision, Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, as a driving factor for the new reporting requirements.
As McGuireWoods previously shared, after a notice-and-comment period, the Office of Management and Budget approved the new IPEDS Admission and Consumer Transparency Supplement (ACTS) survey on Dec. 18, 2025. The IPEDS ACTS survey seeks seven years’ worth of data, including metrics that higher education institutions have not previously been required to maintain or report. Institutions must complete the latest IPEDS ACTS survey by March 18, 2026.
Education Department Offers Conditional Three-Week Extensions
Earlier this month, the Department of Education confirmed that it would grant limited, three-week extensions to the reporting deadline for institutions that (1) complete all ACTS screening questions for all seven ACTS years and (2) upload at least three years of ACTS data files to the IPEDS Data Collection System no later than March 18, 2026. Colleges and universities that satisfy these two conditions and request an extension from the IPEDS Help Desk by March 18 will have until April 8, 2026, to complete the remainder of the IPEDS ACTS survey.
Coalition of State Attorneys General Seek Emergency Relief
On March 11, 2026, attorneys general from 17 states filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, requesting that the court stay implementation of the IPEDS ACTS survey; prohibit the Department from initiating enforcement actions based on ACTS submissions; prevent the Department from accessing already-submitted data; declare that, in adopting the survey, the Education Department exceeded its statutory authority and failed to comply with the requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act; and ultimately to vacate the Department’s adoption of the survey. On March 13, 2026, the states moved for a temporary restraining order and a stay and requested oral argument prior to the March 18 deadline.
What’s Next?
McGuireWoods’ Higher Education team is monitoring the case closely, including whether the court will grant the states’ temporary restraining order, thereby mooting the March 18 deadline.
For questions about how this lawsuit impacts your institution and what steps you should consider, contact the authors, your McGuireWoods contact, or a member of the firm’s Higher Education team.