Judge Delays Trump Administration’s Enforcement of ACTS Reporting Deadline
By Maria Carrasco, NASFAA Staff Reporter
A federal judge on Friday issued a temporary restraining order blocking the Trump administration from enforcing its Admissions and Consumer Transparency Supplement (ACTS) reporting deadline, in order to hold a hearing between a group of Democratic states attorneys general who filed a lawsuit against the Department of Education (ED).
Last week, a group of 17 Democratic states attorneys general sued ED and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), arguing that the department’s ACTS reporting requirement was rushed and created a “considerable” burden for institutions. As part of the initial ACTS reporting requirement, institutions were required to submit the past seven years of student application data by Wednesday, March 18.
On Friday, Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV of the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts responded to the lawsuit and issued a temporary restraining order against ED from enforcing its March 18 deadline. Institutions now have through March 25 to submit their ACTS reporting, Saylor ordered, noting that this extension will permit a hearing and orderly resolution between the states and ED. Currently, a hearing between the states and ED is scheduled for March 24.
Notably, the Association for Institutional Research (AIR) last week confirmed that an institution could also request an extension to submit their ACTS reporting, moving the deadline to April 8, if it meets certain requirements.
It’s unclear how this restraining order will affect the ACTS data collection process, and ED has yet to publish any guidance after Saylor’s order was issued. NASFAA will continue to monitor this litigation, and will post updates in Today’s News.
Publication Date: 3/17/2026
Robin T | 3/17/2026 1:11:17 PM
Alice B: On June 27, 2025 the decision (Trump v. CASA, Inc.) by the Supreme Court was that federal courts cannot issue nationwide injunctions. So, this impacts the 17 states that filed a lawsuit, rather than every state in the union.
Justine C | 3/17/2026 11:13:44 AM
Don't they already have this data?
Joshua M | 3/17/2026 10:30:19 AM
the entire data collection is garbage. its a complete waste of resources and time
Alice B | 3/17/2026 10:2:40 AM
Why would this extension only be for these 17 states, and not everyone? I tell you, the "considerable" burden of getting all of this data together for the past 7 years (including software changes) has been a headache! And like FVT/GE, how much of this data will really be used?
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