State AGs Sue Dept of Education Over Data Demand

WA Attorney General News Releases

Filed March 11th, 2026

Detected March 11th, 2026

Summary

A coalition of 17 State Attorneys General, led by Washington AG Nick Brown, has sued the U.S. Department of Education over new data collection requirements for colleges and universities. The lawsuit alleges the demand for race and sex-disaggregated admissions and outcomes data violates federal law and student privacy, and was implemented unlawfully.

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What changed

A coalition of 17 State Attorneys General has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education, challenging new data collection requirements for higher education institutions. The lawsuit, filed by Washington AG Nick Brown and others, argues that the Department's demand for race and sex-disaggregated admissions and outcomes data, retroactively for seven years, violates federal law, jeopardizes student privacy, and places an undue burden on institutions. The AGs contend the rushed implementation, following a memo from President Trump and a notice-and-comment period, was arbitrary and capricious, lacking clear definitions and potentially leading to inadvertent errors and costly penalties.

Regulated entities, specifically colleges and universities participating in federal student financial programs, are directly impacted by these new IPEDS survey requirements. While the lawsuit challenges the legality of the demand, institutions were given a deadline of March 18, 2026, to provide the new data. The coalition argues that the Department failed to observe required procedures and that the implementation was unlawful. The potential consequences for non-compliance, as highlighted by the AGs, include severe financial penalties and baseless investigations, although the lawsuit itself seeks to halt these requirements.

What to do next

Review the lawsuit filed by the State Attorneys General challenging the Department of Education's new IPEDS data requirements.
Assess internal data collection and reporting capabilities concerning race and sex disaggregation for admissions and outcomes.
Consult legal counsel regarding potential compliance obligations and risks associated with the challenged data demand.

Penalties

The lawsuit alleges the new requirements could lead to costly penalties and baseless investigations for institutions that make inadvertent errors in reporting.

Source document (simplified)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Mar 11 2026

The U.S. Department of Education’s demand for data on admissions and outcomes of college and university students, broken out by race and sex, violates the law and puts student privacy at risk, according to a new lawsuit filed by Attorney General Nick Brown and a coalition of 16 other attorneys general.

The department recently added a component to the Integrated Postsecondary Education System (IPEDS), a collection of interrelated surveys, to track institutions’ compliance with the Supreme Court decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which says that race cannot be used as a factor in admissions. The coalition argues the rushed implementation of the new survey requirements leaves institutions vulnerable to inadvertent errors and unreliable data that could lead to costly penalties and baseless investigations. It also jeopardizes student privacy by requesting in-depth information about students.

“At every turn, this administration is doing all it can to crush the colleges and universities that have made the U.S. a global leader in higher education,” Brown said. “We will fight this unreasonable and illegal demand and defend students’ right to privacy.”

Administered through the Department of Education (ED), IPEDS is a mandatory survey that gathers data from colleges, universities, and technical and vocational programs participating in federal student financial programs. Since 1986, it has served as a valuable tool for reliable data collection and statistical reporting by universities. On August 7, 2025, President Trump issued a memo stating that IPEDS would now become a tool to track “consideration of race in higher education” and investigate universities’ compliance with Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard.

Following the memo, Education Secretary Linda McMahon announced new requirements for institutions demanding they report data via IPEDS disaggregated by race and sex and retroactively report data from the past seven years. On December 18, 2025, following a notice and comment period in which members of the coalition provided comments strongly opposing the new rules, the department finalized the new requirements. The deadline for institutions to provide the new data is March 18.

In the lawsuit, Brown and the coalition argue that the Department of Education’s rushed implementation of the new data requirements ignores the incredible burden they place on institutions and dramatically increases the possibility of inadvertent reporting errors and unreliable data. For example, in their haste to roll out the new requirements, ED failed to provide definitions for critical terms, leaving universities guessing what information they are supposed to provide, and facing severe financial penalties if they guess wrong. Furthermore, ED has eliminated hundreds of positions, including within the very offices responsible for providing clarity about the requirements to universities.

The attorneys general argue the department’s actions are contrary to law, fail to observe the procedure required by law, and are arbitrary and capricious. They argue the implementation of the new data requirements was unlawful and will place an undue burden on colleges and universities.

Joining Brown in filing this lawsuit are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaiʻi, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

A copy of the complaint is available here.

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