Institutions, Advocates Argue Against Admissions Data Collection

"Under the Department of Education's proposed Admissions and Consumer Transparency Supplement, institutions would have to submit applied, admitted and enrolled student data broken down by test score quintiles, grade point average quintiles, income ranges, Pell Grant eligibility and parental education levels, as well as data regarding aid and student outcomes. Institutions would also be required to send historical data going back to 2020."

"They argued in public comments that the new requirements for admissions data collection are too vague, request data institutions do not collect and could violate students' privacy. Several institutions said they broadly support transparency and the federal data collection but that the department needs to rethink the proposal to lessen the administrative burden on colleges and universities-especially smaller institutions with limited institutional research capacity."

"President Donald Trump first called for this data to be collected in an executive order, part of an ongoing crusade to stamp out racial preference in admissions that experts say is going well beyond Supreme Court's 2023 ban on affirmative action. The announcement prompted outcry from admissions professionals, who worried about whether their institutions had the capacity to collect the required data and about how the government planned to use the data."

Under the proposed Admissions and Consumer Transparency Supplement, institutions must provide applied, admitted, and enrolled student data broken down by test score and GPA quintiles, income ranges, Pell Grant eligibility, parental education, financial aid, and student outcomes, with historical submissions back to 2020. Institutions contend the requirements are vague, demand data not routinely collected, and risk violating student privacy. Many institutions support transparency but urge revisions to reduce administrative burden, particularly for smaller colleges with limited research capacity. The Department of Education will review public comments before finalizing the rule, and implementation timing may be affected by a government shutdown.

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