A federal judge temporarily blocked a Trump administration demand for seven years of student application data tied to race, ruling that plaintiffs had shown sufficient cause to pause the request while litigation proceeds. The order prevents immediate federal compelled data collection that universities had been told to prepare to deliver. Attorneys general for several states had sued to stop the administration’s directive; the court’s action limits enforcement while the merits of the policy are litigated. Campus admissions offices—already navigating transparency, privacy and OCR compliance—now face conflicting obligations and continued uncertainty about what records they must prepare and disclose. Higher‑education counsel say the ruling buys institutions time to review privacy protections and consult with counsel, but it doesn’t resolve the underlying policy battle over federal oversight of admissions‑related data.