Ensuring Transparency in Higher Education Admissions
SUBJECT: Ensuring Transparency in Higher Education Admissions
Text
Memorandum for THE SECRETARY OF EDUCATION
SUBJECT: Ensuring Transparency in Higher Education Admissions
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby direct:
Section 1. Background. Although the Supreme Court of the United States has definitively held that consideration of race in higher education admissions violates students’ civil rights, the persistent lack of available data — paired with the rampant use of “diversity statements” and other overt and hidden racial proxies — continues to raise concerns about whether race is actually used in practice. Greater transparency is essential to exposing unlawful practices and ultimately ridding society of shameful, dangerous racial hierarchies.
The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), managed by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), plays a critical role in promoting transparency in American higher education. However, IPEDS requires long-overdue technological upgrades to expand its data collection and fulfill its mission effectively.
American students and taxpayers deserve confidence in the fairness and integrity of our Nation’s institutions of higher education, including confidence that they are recruiting and training capable future doctors, engineers, scientists, and other critical workers vital to the next generations of American prosperity. Race-based admissions practices are not only unfair, but also threaten our national security and well-being. It is therefore the policy of my Administration to ensure institutions of higher education receiving Federal financial assistance are transparent in their admissions practices.
Sec. 2. Technological Improvements. (a) The Secretary of Education, in consultation with the heads of other executive departments and agencies (agencies) as necessary, shall revamp the online presentation of IPEDS data, such that it is easily accessible and intelligibly presented for parents and students.
(b) The Secretary of Education, in consultation with the heads of other agencies as necessary, shall revise and, if necessary, overhaul the IPEDS data collection portal to remove inefficiencies and better streamline the process to more efficiently organize and utilize the data received from the institutions.