First, the good news – if you are not employed at a college or university, you need not read further. For those in education, please read on.

A federal district court temporarily blocked the collection of expanded IPEDS data on applicants for admission.

As we previously shared, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) made major changes to Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) annual reporting to significantly expand reporting obligations to include more detailed, disaggregated data on applicants for admission, admitted students, and enrollees through a new reporting tool, the Admissions and Consumer Transparency Supplement (ACTS).

The ACTS was approved and required as part of the IPEDS 2025-2026 data collection cycle with the first submission due by March 18, 2026.

On March 13, 2026, Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV, a federal district court judge in Boston, issued a temporary restraining order halting enforcement of the new reporting requirement while litigation challenging the requirement proceeds. The case, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, et. al. v. U.S. Department of Education, was filed by a coalition of states that contend the U.S. Department of Education exceeded its authority and failed to follow required administrative procedures when imposing the expanded data collection requirements.

Highlights

• A federal court hit pause on the requirement to submit the ACTS report by March 18, 2026.
• The data collection may eventually move forward, depending on the outcome of the litigation.

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Silberman Law will monitor the litigation and provide updates on revised deadlines or further guidance from the U.S. Department of Education.



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