A federal judge in Boston issued a preliminary injunction on Friday, halting the Trump administration's effort to collect detailed race and sex data from public universities in 17 states.

U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV ruled that while the federal government likely has the authority to request the information, the rollout was rushed and chaotic. The order came in a lawsuit filed by attorneys general from 17 Democratic-led states challenging the data demands from the National Center for Education Statistics, part of the Education Department.

The administration directed universities last August to submit disaggregated data by race and sex on applicants, admitted students and enrollees going back seven years. The original deadline was March 18, following a 120-day window set by President Trump. Noncompliance could trigger investigations or loss of federal funding under Title IV of the Higher Education Act.

Judge Saylor wrote that the tight timeline prevented the center from adequately addressing issues raised during the required notice-and-comment period. "The 120-day deadline imposed by the President led directly to the failure of NCES to engage meaningfully with the institutions during the notice-and-comment process to address the multitude of problems presented by the new requirements," he stated.

The injunction applies only to public institutions in the plaintiff states. Michelle Pascucci, a lawyer for the states, argued in court that the hasty approach would burden universities and invade student privacy while targeting perceived unlawful practices.

The push stems from the Supreme Court's 2023 ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which ended race-based affirmative action in college admissions but permitted applicants to discuss race's role in their personal experiences through essays. President Trump expressed concerns that some schools were circumventing the decision using proxies for race, amounting to illegal discrimination.

Education Department officials defended the request as necessary for taxpayer transparency, given billions in annual federal aid to higher education. The policy mirrors recent settlements with Brown University and Columbia University, where both agreed to provide similar data on race, GPAs and test scores, along with public audits of admissions.

Separately, the administration has sued Harvard University for failing to comply with a similar 20-day demand, threatening referral to the Justice Department.

This marks the latest in a series of court interventions. Earlier rulings extended deadlines and issued temporary blocks as universities challenged the scope and speed of the requests.