Trump Orders Colleges to Prove They Don’t Consider Race in Admissions

Summary:

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order requiring colleges and universities to submit admissions data proving they do not consider race as a factor—a move he claims is needed to enforce the 2023 Supreme Court decision that barred race-based affirmative action. This order comes amid growing concerns about institutions allegedly using indirect tools—like personal or diversity statements—to include race in admissions.

The directive instructs the Department of Education, led by Secretary Linda McMahon, to gather detailed data—including race, sex, GPA, and test scores—for applicants, admitted students, and enrolled students, to be collected via the National Center for Education Statistics. Compliance will be mandatory for institutions to retain Title IV federal financial aid eligibility.

This strategy mirrors past settlements with institutions such as Brown and Columbia, which had to provide such data to regain federal research funding. While some universities are transitioning toward race-neutral strategies—like heightened reliance on socioeconomic status or broad-based recruitment programs—these methods have only yielded mixed results in maintaining campus diversity.

Critics argue that this order may place colleges in a difficult position: federal law limits how they can collect racial data during admissions, and students often decline to report their race—even after enrolling. As a result, any data provided to the federal government may offer an incomplete and potentially misleading picture of campus demographics.

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