BOSTON — A federal judge has halted efforts by the Trump administration to collect data that proves higher education institutions aren’t considering race in admissions.

The ruling from U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV in Boston on Friday granting the preliminary injunction follows a lawsuit filed earlier this month by a coalition of 17 Democratic state attorneys general. It will only apply to public universities in plaintiffs

The federal judge said the federal government likely has the authority to collect the data, but the demand was rolled out to universities in a “rushed and chaotic” manner.

“The 120-day deadline imposed by the President led directly to the failure of NCES (National Center for Education Statistics) to engage meaningfully with the institutions during the notice-and-comment process to address the multitude of problems presented by the new requirements,” Saylor wrote.

President Donald Trump ordered the data collection in August after he raised concerns that colleges and universities were using personal statements and other proxies to consider race, which he views as illegal discrimination.

In 2023, the Supreme Court ruled against the use of affirmative action in admissions but said colleges could still consider how race has shaped students’ lives if applicants share that information in their admissions essays.

The states argue the data collection risks invading student privacy and leading to baseless investigations of colleges and universities. They also argued that universities have not been given enough time to collect the data.

“The data has been sought in such a hasty and irresponsible way that it will create problems for universities,” a lawyer for the plaintiffs, Michelle Pascucci, told the court, adding that the effort seem was aimed at uncovering unlawful practices.

The Education Department has defended the effort, arguing taxpayers deserve transparency on how money is spent at institutions that receive federal funding.

The administration’s policy echoes settlement agreements the government negotiated with Brown University and Columbia University, restoring their federal research money. The universities agreed to give the government data on the race, grade-point average and standardized test scores of applicants, admitted students and enrolled students. The schools also agreed to be audited by the government and to release admissions statistics to the public.

The National Center for Education Statistics is to collect the new data, including the race and sex of colleges’ applicants, admitted students and enrolled students. Education Secretary Linda McMahon has said the data, which was originally due by March 18, must be disaggregated by race and sex and retroactively reported for the past seven years.

If colleges fail to submit timely, complete and accurate data, the administration has said McMahon can take action under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, which outlines requirements for colleges receiving federal financial aid for students.

The Trump administration separately has sued Harvard University over similar data, saying it refused to provide admissions records the Justice Department demanded to ensure the school stopped using affirmative action. Harvard has said the university has been responding to the government’s requests and is in compliance with the high court ruling against affirmative action. On Monday, the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights directed Harvard to comply with the data requests within 20 days for face referral to the U.S. Justice Department.

David West raised four kids in Los Angeles working as a Hollywood cinematographer — no mean feat in such a pricey city. But a few years ago, his life took a hard turn.

“Everything went south. Divorce. My brother died,” he said. “My dog died.” On top of that, a string of clients who’d hired him for decades also passed away.

Before long, he’d burned through cash and damaged his credit. He moved to Fresno, Calif., and now, at 72, West is in a situation he never imagined at this stage of life but one that more and more older people are facing: renting a room in the home of a complete stranger.

“I tried to move, like, an apartment’s worth of stuff into a room,” he said with a laugh at how impossible it seemed. “You know, how do you do that? I still haven’t figured it out.”

West looked into a housing subsidy, but his income is just over the limit, so he’s grateful for the cost savings of a house share. His roommate, also an older man, covers Wi-Fi, utilities and cable. West volunteers his photography skills at the church where the man is involved and shares his Costco membership.

“It’s that give-and-take thing,” he said. “It’s trying to help each other out as much as possible.”

David West while working on a documentary in Brazil.

David West

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David West

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Roommates are skewing older

The high cost of housing means more people are being priced out of not only owning a home but also renting alone. The share of adults 65 and over looking to rent with a roommate has tripled in the past decade, according to the listings site SpareRoom.

“They’re not the biggest group of roommates, but they’re by far the fastest growing,” said the site’s communications director, Matt Hutchinson.

SpareRoom finds that roommates in general are skewing older. Young people are living with their parents longer, unable to afford moving out or simply trying to save up. Meanwhile, more people in their 50s, 60s and older are unable to make it on their own.

“Maybe 10 years ago they’d have looked at a one-bed or a studio and thought, ‘Well, I’ll rent that,’” Hutchinson said. Now “they’re looking at prices and going, ‘There’s no way I could afford that.’”

Baby boomers have been aging as housing costs across the U.S. have spiked. In 2023, more than a third of households headed by adults 65 and over struggled to pay housing costs, according to the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University, and the share is even bigger for women living alone.

“Older adults are more likely to be housing-cost burdened than working-age adults, and that gets more severe with age,” said Jennifer Molinsky, who researches aging and housing at the center. “It’s climbed up the income scale. So more and more, you know, middle-income people are struggling with housing costs than ever before.”

Older adults are also more likely to face major life events that can lead to financial strain. Caezilia Loibl, chair of the Consumer Sciences Program at Ohio State University, has researched the financial toll of chronic disease and the loss of a spouse at an older age.

“The shock is enormous,” she said, “and we see it very clearly in our data how the debt burden goes up and financial vulnerability goes up.” People were more likely to fall behind in debt payments, for example, see their credit score drop, file for bankruptcy and face foreclosure.

The upside of learning to live with less

Darla Desautel at an arboretum in Arizona. She appreciates not only the cost savings of a shared rental but also the flexibility to move to other places when she wants.

Darla Desautel

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Darla Desautel

Saving money may be the top reason that more older people are house-sharing. But some see other benefits.

“Oh, I think it’s wonderful. Maybe more of the way people used to live,” said Darla Desautel, who’s 74 and has rented with roommates for years, though she’s currently house-sitting in Minnesota.

She loves the flexibility of not being tied down and being able to move where she wants, and she thinks not living alone is healthier. She got along especially well with one roommate who also was an older woman.

“We had a lot in common, and that’s pretty special when that works out,” she said.

To be sure, there can be annoyances. One place was kept too cold in winter and too hot in summer. There can be smelly cat litter boxes or a roommate who talks on speakerphone in a common area. “Noise is huge. A lot of people think they’re quiet when they’re really not,” she said.

If she could afford it, Desautel said, she would rent solo, though “with a short-term lease.” But that would eat up more than half her income. In addition to receiving Social Security, she still works occasionally as a leadership consultant and coach, and she is a licensed secondhand dealer selling “other people’s junk.”

Desautel is proud that she has learned to whittle down possessions and live with less. “Right now I can move across country with 10 boxes shipped USPS and take a plane,” she said.

For now, that’s her plan, driving this time, to continue her house-sitting gig in Arizona for the summer. And when that ends, she’ll find her next roommate.