A judge has sided — for now — with the attorneys general for 17 states who recently filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education’s demand for reams of student admissions data.

U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor on Friday granted a temporary restraining order through March 25 blocking the department from collecting the data as he reviews the lawsuit.

The 17 states argue in the complaint it is unlawful to “collect data to further partisan political ends,” and, what’s more, the request for the massive data set going back seven years is onerous, untenable, and in some cases impossible to fulfill.

“We’ve secured a court order temporarily blocking the Trump Admin’s attempt to require colleges & universities to submit data linking race to admissions, financial aid, and student performance,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta posted on Facebook on Monday. “We’re pleased the court has paused this unprecedented & unrealistic demand for education data.”

The Education Department seeks admissions data, including race, gender, standardized test scores, and GPAs of applicants, as well as admitted and enrolled students.

The information is requested for admissions transparency and to ensure colleges and universities are not violating the ban against affirmative action. The data would be sorted by the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, or IPEDS.

An Education Department spokesperson defended the mandate to Higher Ed Dive. 

“The Department’s efforts will expand an existing transparency tool to show how universities are taking race into consideration in admissions,” Ellen Keast told the outlet. “What exactly are State AGs trying to shield universities from?”

But the attorneys for the states argue the request “is unprecedented in scope, seeking a vast array of disaggregated data from the 2025-2026 academic year and six prior years.”

“Never before has IPEDS sought retroactive data; never before has IPEDS sought such a vast array of
disaggregated data; and never before has the Department of Education so quickly effected a major change to IPEDS,” the lawsuit states.

MORE: 17-state coalition sues Education Department over admissions transparency order