California Attorney General Rob Bonta has led a coalition of 17 attorneys general in submitting a comment letter to the U.S. Department of Education (ED), voicing opposition to a proposal that would require colleges and universities to collect and submit data linking race to admissions, financial aid, and student performance. The ED claims this effort is intended to help enforce Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race.
Attorney General Bonta and his counterparts argue that the proposed rule would not assist in enforcing Title VI but instead would place significant burdens on educational institutions, risk student privacy, and likely fail to yield useful information. They also state that the ED has not addressed concerns raised during an earlier public comment period regarding these issues.
“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.”
The current proposal follows an August 7, 2025 directive from President Trump instructing ED to expand the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) survey. This expansion targets alleged violations concerning race-conscious admissions practices after the Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College. The new requirements would mandate collection of detailed data by race and sex related to admissions cohorts, academic qualifications such as test scores and GPAs, family income levels, Pell Grant eligibility, parental education background, financial aid amounts received by students, cost of attendance figures, graduation rates, final cumulative GPAs for graduates, as well as distinctions between early action/decision or regular admissions processes.
On August 15, 2025 ED opened a public comment period about expanding IPEDS; Bonta’s coalition submitted their objections at that time. A second request for comments was issued by ED on November 13 with submissions open until December 15.
In their recent letter opposing the measure or requesting its delay for further stakeholder input, Bonta’s coalition argues:
– The expanded data collection is neither necessary nor helpful for enforcing Title VI.
– It imposes substantial new demands on colleges within a short timeframe using untested procedures.
– Responses from NCES have not resolved worries about inadequate privacy protections or administrative feasibility.
– Withdrawing or delaying implementation could give time for more thorough feedback collection aimed at reducing institutional burdens while improving data quality.
Attorney General Bonta emphasized ongoing efforts to defend California’s educational institutions against what he describes as unwarranted federal actions targeting diversity initiatives. Earlier this year he participated in issuing guidance about civil rights obligations under federal law for both higher education institutions and K-12 schools; he also joined other states in October opposing changes affecting special education reporting requirements related to racial disparities; in November he helped block an attempt by ED to withdraw funding supporting post-pandemic academic recovery efforts.
Joining Attorney General Bonta are attorneys general from Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Nevada, Oregon,Vermont,Washingon,and Wisconsin.