On August 7, the Trump Administration released an executive order (EO) on college admissions data collection. The U.S. Department of Education has proposed adding the Admissions and Consumer Transparency Supplement (ACTS) to this year’s IPEDS collection.

To quote Association for Institutional Research (AIR) Executive Director and CEO, Christine M. Keller, “if implemented as written, ACTS would represent one of the most complex IPEDS collections to date and could create a significant reporting burden for affected institutions.”

In summary, this ACTS proposal would require four-year institutions to submit a highly detailed set of undergraduate and graduate admission data, disaggregated by multiple student characteristics and CIP code (for graduate programs), along with five years of historical data. To read more about what this proposal is about and the data reporting requirements it entails, please take a look at the Official Notice by the US Education Department as well as AIR’s detailed summary.

Accurate and timely IPEDS reporting is essential for maintaining your institution’s Title IV eligibility and avoiding penalties. WAICU shares your concerns about the scope and timing of this proposal and strongly encourages each institution to provide feedback directly to ED.

SUBMIT A PUBLIC COMMENT

The public comment period is currently open until October 14, 2025. Written public comments may be submitted anonymously.

Feel free to reach out to us should you have any questions or concerns! If there are any recommendations on how we can further support you, do not hesitate to let us know.

For more information, please email WAICU Executive Vice President of External Relations Rebecca Larson.