WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - President Donald Trump has signed a Presidential Memorandum directing the Secretary of Education to require higher education institutions receiving Federal financial assistance to be transparent regarding their admissions practices.
The Memorandum directs the Secretary of Education to revamp the online presentation and data collection of the Integrated Post-Secondary Education Data System, or IPEDS, to make it efficient, easily accessible, and intelligibly presented for parents and students.
The Memorandum instructs the Secretary of Education to expand the scope of required reporting for institutions' admissions data in order to provide adequate transparency as determined by the Secretary of Education.
The Memorandum also instructs the Secretary to increase accuracy checks for data submitted by institutions through IPEDS and take remedial action if they fail to submit data in a timely manner or submit incomplete or inaccurate data.
In 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that consideration of race in higher education admissions violates students' civil rights.
However, the lack of available admissions data from universities, paired with the rampant use of 'diversity statements' and other overt and hidden racial proxies, continue to raise concerns about whether race is actually used in admissions decisions in practice, the White House said.
This Memorandum requires higher education institutions to submit the data necessary to verify that their admissions do not involve unlawful discrimination. It will also provide the public with a more holistic view of the factors these institutions consider in admissions.
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