President Donald Trump is expected to sign a Presidential Memorandum on Thursday ordering higher education institutions to hand over their admissions data in order to prove they are not engaging in affirmative action, a senior White House official told the Daily Caller.
The Supreme Court ruled in 2023 that the use of race-based affirmative action admissions policies by institutions of higher education were unconstitutional. A fact sheet on the Thursday order, obtained by the Caller, states that because universities fail to provide admissions data — while using “diversity statements” and various other initiatives to circumvent the SCOTUS ruling — the administration is concerned over the continued use of racial preferences in the admissions process. (RELATED: Harvard Hints At How It Will Keep Considering Race In Admissions Despite SCOTUS Ruling)
Trump’s order Thursday demands institutions that receive federal funding submit their admissions data to the federal government in order to prove that they aren’t engaging in discriminatory practices, the fact sheet obtained by the Caller states.
U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon follows a U.S. Secret Service agent back to the West Wing after her TV interview with Fox News was ended outside of the White House on July 15, 2025 in Washington, DC. McMahon’s interview was canceled after the U.S. Secret Service closed down the North Lawn after reports of a security threat near the White House. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
The order also directs Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to expand the scope of data the institutions need to submit to the administration in order to fully asses their practices, the fact sheet reads. McMahon will also be required to increase accuracy checks of data submitted through the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System and take action if the data institutions submit is not up to the government’s standards, according to the information shared with the Caller.
Following the SCOTUS order on affirmative action in 2023, the Biden administration urged colleges and universities to continue racially discriminating to increase diversity in the student body.
“For higher education to be an engine for equal opportunity, upward mobility, and global competitiveness, we need campus communities that reflect the beautiful diversity of our country,” former Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a statement at the time. “The resources issued by the Biden-Harris Administration today will provide college leaders with much-needed clarity on how they can lawfully promote and support diversity, and expand access to educational opportunity for all following the Supreme Court’s disappointing ruling on affirmative action.”
Since, universities have implemented other initiatives, like essays from students detailing how race has affected their lives, to circumvent the decision. Harvard University suggested after the decision that it would use applicants’ essays explaining how race has affected their lives in an effort to “comply with the Court’s decision,” according to a university statement. (RELATED: Half Of Americans Oppose Race-Based Admissions At Elite Colleges Ahead Of SCOTUS Ruling: Poll)
The University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) has openly touted its method of increasing diversity, despite the SCOTUS ruling.
“Ensuring that UCLA’s student population reflects the diverse population of California is a goal inextricably tied to the campus’s role as a public university,” a June 2023 statement said. “It is a foundational principle of the institution that UCLA serve the public and enhance the greater good, which means that the campus community should be inclusive of, and welcoming to, a population as diverse as the state’s.”
