UC Berkeley
Credit: UC Berkeley

December 16, 2025 - OAKLAND — On Monday, California Attorney General Rob Bonta led a coalition of 17 attorneys general in submitting a comment letter to the U.S. Department of Education (ED) reaffirming their opposition to the Trump Administration’s proposal requiring colleges and universities to submit data linking race to admissions, financial aid, and student performance. ED claims to be seeking data to assist it in enforcing Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race. In the comment letter, Attorney General Bonta and the attorneys general argue that the proposal would not only not aid in Title VI enforcement, it also imposes unreasonable burdens on schools and universities, endangers student privacy, and is unlikely to result in useful data being collected. The coalition highlights that ED has failed to respond to the many substantive concerns expressed in response to ED’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)’ August 15 request for comment on the proposal. 

“The Trump Administration has continued to push forward its demand that colleges adhere to unreasonable, unnecessary reporting burdens — all in service of President Trump’s assault on lawful diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and schools he dislikes,” said Attorney General Bonta. “The U.S. Department of Education has ignored feedback from states and the public that this proposal threatens students’ privacy and is highly likely to produce inaccurate or unusable results. We will not allow data to be weaponized against the schools and students its collection should empower. We call on the Department of Education to rescind this fundamentally flawed proposal.”

On August 7, 2025, President Trump directed ED to expand the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), an already-required survey, to address alleged concerns about race-conscious admissions practices in violation of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College. The new survey section would collect a broad range of data on undergraduate and graduate admissions, financial aid, and student outcomes, including data by race and sex, on 1) the institutions’ applied, admitted, and enrolled cohorts, disaggregated by admission test score, GPA, family income, Pell Grant eligibility and parental education; 2) average high school grade point average and admission test scores; and 3) the count of students admitted via early action, early decision, or regular admissions. Additionally, the survey would include data about students receiving financial aid, including the average amount, cost of attendance, graduation rates, and graduates’ final cumulative grade point average. 

On August 15, 2025, ED submitted a request for comment over a 60-day period to gather public feedback regarding the expansion of IPEDS. Attorney General Bonta, along with 17 other state attorneys general, submitted comments opposing the proposal. On November 13, 2025, ED submitted a second request for public comment, with submission open until December 15.

In today's comment letter, Attorney General Bonta and the coalition urge ED to withdraw the proposal, or to, at a minimum, delay its implementation to give more opportunities to gather and respond to stakeholder feedback. Attorney General Bonta and the coalition argue that:

• The proposed data collection is neither necessary nor beneficial to the ED’s stated goal of enforcing Title VI.
• The proposal not only imposes unreasonable burdens on colleges and universities — requiring them to gather and submit never-before-collected data within a shortened timeline — but creates an untested procedure for submitting data, meaning the new data will likely not be processed or used in a timely manner.
• NCES’ responses to comments received during the first public comment period failed to adequately address concerns that the proposed data collection not only lacks privacy protections for students, but is also “almost unworkable” due to administrative burdens, unclear instructions, data quality concerns, unavailable data, and the short timeline.
• Withdrawing, delaying, or limiting the initial rollout of the proposal would allow NCES to gather and implement feedback to minimize burdens on schools and enhance the quality and usefulness of the data collected.

Attorney General Bonta remains committed to protecting California’s education institutions from unwarranted federal attacks and defending their efforts to foster diversity, equity, inclusion, and to serve all students. In March, Attorney General Bonta, as part of a multistate coalition, issued guidance to institutions of higher education and K-12 schools regarding their obligations under federal civil rights laws and the U.S. Constitution. In October, Attorney General Bonta filed a multistate letter opposing a Trump Administration proposal to remove reporting requirements that help ED identify disparities in representation in special education programming for children with disabilities based on race. In November, Attorney General Bonta successfully blocked an effort by ED to rescind funding supporting academic recovery of students following the COVID-19 pandemic.

In filing the comment letter, Attorney General Bonta is joined by the attorneys general of Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.

Source: CA. DOJ