On August 15, 2025, the US Education Ministry (ED) proposed to increase the annual data acquisition of the department by post -conceptual educational institutions that participate in the financial aid programs for students of the federal students. The supplement, which is referred to as the “approval and consumer transparency supplement” (acts), would require selective four-year university facilities in order to submit detailed, disaggregated admission data with the specified goals of guaranteeing transparency and “compliance with the broad level” with the title VI of Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Quick hits
- Ed has proposed a supplement to the Department's Annual System of Collecting Postsecondary Institutional Institution Data- Known As the “Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System” (IPeds) —THAT WOLD Require the Collection of Race and Sex-Disaggegated Data, Admits, and and Enrollees, including information Related to Grade Point Average (GPA) Quintiles, Standardized Test Scores, Application Round (Early/Regular), Family Income, Pell Grant Eligibility, the status of the first generation, the financial support, the results, conclusion results and other factors that were used during approval decisions.
- Ed estimates that the recording and processing of data require more than 740,000 hours throughout the entire lessons. The recent staff cuts in two departments of the department make feasibility and data quality concerns.
- The increased enforcement and audits are expected, with the focus on compliance with title VI.
- Public comments on the proposal are due until October 14, 2025.
The request for recording and commenting on EDS Information intake and comment on the proposed files on IPEDS quotes a necessity to “greater transparency” to uncover “illegal practices”, and claims that “”[diversity, equity, and inclusion] was used as an excuse for racial discrimination against approvals despite the Supreme Court of Court of the United States in Students for fair approvals against President and scholarship holders of Harvard College. In particular, the federal government currently does not collect any racial data on approvals and scholarships. Ed states that this additional data acquisition enables you to “better enforce titles VI and create good incentives for voluntary compliance”.
Public comments on the proposal are due until October 14, 2025. The approval of the office for management and the budget of the White House could take place by the end of the year, although the reporting obligations may begin soon. The covered institutions will probably already want to prepare for potential regulatory changes and audits in 2026.
Proposed requirements
The acts proposal applies to selective four-year institutions, with ED requesting contributions to the scope and the definitions of covered units. The institutions would have to report retrospective data (2020–21 to 2025–26) for six years, disaggented by breed and gender for applicants and at the participants. Required data elements would include information about GPA, standardized test results, application round, family income, pell subsidy authorization, status of the first generation, offered financial support and receiving, final rates and results as well as all additional factors used in the event of approval decisions. Graduate programs must report according to Field of Study (CIP code). ED also asks comments on the feasibility, burden and standardization of key datenses.
Public comments topics
A review of more than 1,800 public comments submitted shows comprehensive support for increased transparency, but a strong resistance to the details of the act proposal. The most common concerns include excessive reporting and underestimated resource needs, challenges with feasibility and data quality – especially for institutions with limited resources or incomplete historical records – private and compliance risks, lack of standardization and unclear definitions as well as an compressed, unrealistic timeline. Many commentators recommend delay, control, phase and scale the requirements, as well as the provision of clearer definitions and institutional support. While a minority of commentators supports the extended data acquisition, the commentators also demand a cautious, gradual approach. The prevailing recommendation from a review of the submitted comments asks ED to significantly revise the proposal before it progresses.
Next steps for covered university devices
Since increased data reporting and enforcement could begin by 2026, the covered university devices may want to consider taking the following steps:
- Implementation of reviews of the acts requirements and to assess the willingness to create six years of retrospective, disaggregated data;
- Creation of plans for collecting, organizing and protecting data that react to acts conveyor components and the National Center for Educational Statistics inquiries;
- Implementation of privileged checks of registration data over the entire reporting period and the implementation of robust analyzes for the control of relevant approval factors for the information of conformity strategies; And
- Preparation for increased audits and enforcement, including accuracy reviews, risk-based title VI analyzes and potential remedial measures for late or inaccurate submissions.