A coalition of 22 attorneys general challenged a U.S. Department of Education rule that could have disqualified public-service employees from Public Service Loan Forgiveness based on politically disfavored conduct. A federal court vacated the rule in June 2026, and the Administration’s decision to drop its appeal left that ruling in place; the release describes no privacy violation or monetary penalty.
The court vacated the Department of Education rule, and the Administration dropped its appeal, leaving the court’s ruling in place. No monetary penalty is stated.
This action does not concern privacy practices, so it does not directly call for changes to data-processing, consent, or breach-notification clauses. In-house teams should nevertheless review employee-benefits and education-assistance agreements, as well as relevant customer or vendor workforce provisions, for accurate PSLF employer eligibility representations, employment-verification responsibilities, and procedures for responding to changes in program rules; avoid contractual terms that make eligibility depend on political beliefs or protected activity.
Entity
U.S. Department of Education
Industry
EducationOfficial Press Release
https://www.ag.state.mn.us/Office/Communications/2026/10/23_PSLF.asp
pslf1022redacted
https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/attachments/press-docs/pslf1022redacted.pdf
13242 PSLF Decision
https://www.ag.state.mn.us/Office/Communications/2026/docs/13242_PSLF_Decision.pdf
Minnesota Attorney General Enforcement Page
https://www.ag.state.mn.us/consumer/
"the U.S. Department of Education"
"violated the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution."
"The Administration’s rule would have used an ambiguous standard to target legal politically disfavored conduct"
California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education to block the expansion of IPEDS data collection requiring colleges to submit race-linked student data. The lawsuit argues the demand is arbitrary, capricious, and burdensome, and could enable costly partisan investigations. A multistate coalition co-led the challenge.
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell co-led a coalition of 17 attorneys general in filing a lawsuit against the Trump Administration to stop new data reporting requirements for colleges and universities through IPEDS. The requirements demand detailed student data disaggregated by race and sex, retroactive for seven years, which the coalition argues jeopardizes student privacy and could lead to baseless investigations.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong joined a coalition of 17 attorneys general in filing a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education to stop new data reporting requirements under IPEDS that demand detailed student information. The coalition argues the requirements are unlawful, arbitrary, and jeopardize student privacy by requesting in-depth data that could lead to inadvertent errors and baseless investigations. The lawsuit seeks an injunction to block the implementation of these requirements.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, joined by 16 other states, sued the U.S. Department of Education over a new survey requiring colleges to submit extensive student data, arguing it violates the Administrative Procedure Act and threatens student privacy. The lawsuit seeks to block the mandate and prevent penalties for non-compliance.
Attorney General Nick Brown of Washington led a coalition of 17 state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education on March 11, 2026, challenging new requirements for the IPEDS survey that demand race- and sex-disaggregated student data retroactive seven years. The coalition alleges the rushed rule violates the law, jeopardizes student privacy by collecting in-depth student information, and imposes undue burdens on institutions with unclear data definitions and risk of severe penalties for errors. The lawsuit seeks to invalidate the rule, arguing it was arbitrarily implemented without proper procedure and poses widespread privacy risks to students.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, joined by 16 other attorneys general, filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education to stop new data collection requirements under IPEDS that threaten student privacy by requesting sensitive personal information including income, test scores, and GPA.