Nearly 2,200 colleges are scrambling to meet a new federal directive requiring seven years of granular admissions data by March 18, officials and campus administrators report. The Admissions and Consumer Transparency Supplement (ACTS) demands race, sex, test scores, income and other records—an effort prompted by the administration’s concern about covert preferences after the Supreme Court’s banning of affirmative action. Institutional research offices say the collection was rushed, placing heavy burdens on small staffs and outdated systems. John Brown University’s institutional research director described hours spent extracting legacy data from mothballed platforms; compliance failures could lead to fines or loss of federal aid. Privacy experts and registrars warn about the technical, legal and resource implications of such rapid, wide‑ranging data pulls. The directive raises operational questions for institutional research units and may prompt calls for phased reporting timelines or federal technical assistance.