US President Donald Trump on Thursday (Aug 7) signed a memorandum that requires universities to collect admissions data to prove they are not engaged in efforts to shape their student bodies along racial lines, according to the White House.
But the largest higher education policy and lobbying organisation in the US said the wording of the memo was vague. The American Council on Education also said it may be illegal for schools to collect the data on race that the White House seeks.
The move is the latest effort in the Trump administration’s effort to dismantle affirmative action policies at universities. It has launched dozens of investigations and threatened to cut off funding to schools that promote diversity, equity and inclusion programmes.
According to the memorandum, a 2023 US Supreme Court ruling knocked down the use of affirmative action in college admissions, but universities have skirted that decision by relying on “diversity statements” students provide in applying that indicate their race.
The White House now wants schools to show they are complying.
The US Department of Education said in a statement that Education Secretary Linda McMahon had directed the National Center for Education Statistics to collect from universities data on the race and gender of their applicant pool, on the students admitted and of all enrolled undergraduates.