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.
The coalition seeks a permanent injunction barring the U.S. Department of Education from enforcing the December 18, 2025 final rule that added new IPEDS survey requirements, which would invalidate the mandate for all colleges, universities, and vocational programs participating in federal student financial aid programs to report race- and sex-disaggregated student data retroactively for seven years.
In-house legal teams at colleges, universities, and related educational institutions should review contracts with student information system providers, data analytics vendors, and other third parties handling student data to ensure compliance with student privacy laws and clarity around data definitions. Clauses related to data collection scope, reporting requirements, data retention (including retroactive data requests), and liability for inadvertent reporting errors should be updated to align with lawful data demands and mitigate penalty risks. Teams should also verify that contracts do not require disclosure of race- or sex-disaggregated student data beyond legal mandates, and that student privacy protections are explicitly incorporated.
Entity
U.S. Department of Education
Industry
EducationOfficial Press Release
https://www.atg.wa.gov/news/news-releases/ag-brown-sues-department-education-unlawful-data-demand-colleges-and
20260311 IPEDS multistate complaint.pdf?VersionId=O.r7cc 4AB
https://agportal-s3bucket.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Federal%20Litigation/20260311%20IPEDS%20multistate%20complaint.pdf?VersionId=O.r7cc_4ABSnm3QulRLWtLjABz6o62rp
"U.S. Department of Education"
"jeopardizes student privacy by requesting in-depth information about students"
"Mar 11 2026"
"Washington State"
"coalition of 16 other attorneys general"
"attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaiʻi, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin"
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.
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.
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.
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.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong joined 18 other attorneys general in filing a comment letter opposing a U.S. Department of Education proposal to expand data collection on race, admissions, and student performance from colleges and universities. The coalition argues the proposal is unreasonably burdensome, unlikely to yield quality data, and could be misused to target lawful diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, raising student privacy concerns.