DOJ May Violate FERPA Legal guidelines With Newest Harvard Lawsuit

[ad_1] by Sharelle B. McNair February 16, 2026

Whereas Harvard has refused to bow down, authorized consultants spotlight how the lawsuit having “nothing to do with defending the civil rights of any pupil.”

After the Division of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit towards Harvard College over allegations that the college isn’t complying with the 2023 affirmative motion ban, authorized consultants are warning the Trump Administration of potential privateness hurdles forward , in response to The Harvard Crimson.

The Feb. 13 swimsuit may current violations of the Household Instructional Rights and Privateness Act (FERPA) – a federal legislation banning pupil information that stop particular person candidates from being disclosed.

For the reason that DOJ is demanding applicant-level admissions information, equivalent to grades, standardized check scores, race, and inner evaluations, FERPA might be violated when information factors are mixed, even after names are eliminated, as a result of this makes particular person college students identi fiable .

Quite a lot of authorized consultants are sounding the alarm, together with Vinay Harpalani, a College of New Mexico legislation professor, who says he can be stunned if the administration is profitable in its calls for. “That dangers explicit privateness considerations there,” Harpalani stated.

“If the person information from a single applicant can all be linked — all the information, the grade, the check rating, their race, ethnicity, different options about them — then that applicant may be capable to be recognized as a person. And that might be problematic, that would run in violation of the FERPA.”

In accordance with The Hill, the DOJ, beneath the management of Legal professional Basic Pam Bondi, claims the Ivy League establishment, which was on the forefront of the Supreme Courtroom’s controversial reversal, has prevented doc launch for over 10 months. Bondi says the swimsuit is a matter of wanting “higher from our nation’s academic establishments.”

Harvard has didn't disclose the information we have to be certain that its admissions are freed from discrimination — we'll proceed preventing to place advantage over DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] throughout America,” the AG stated.

Nevertheless, Jonathan D. Glater, a College of California, Berkeley legislation professor, says the division could hit some blocks since FERPA doesn’t give them authority to entry pupil admissions information as they aren't a listed entity.

He continues to assert that the DOJ could also be out o f its league in relation to understanding the ins and outs of admissions selections and the issue of evaluating discretionary variables.

“Pupil personally identifiable data is protected by FERPA. The DOJ shouldn't be a listed entity, and this isn't a part of a prison investigation, so I’m undecided how this works,” the legislation professor defined.

“The Faculty doesn't admit everybody with excellent check scores and ideal grades, for instance. Different elements are at pla,y and the method is nuanced. I have no idea how nuanced a course of the DOJ is ready to tolerate.”

Whereas a Harvard spokesperson says the college “will proceed to defend itself towards these retaliatory actions which have been initiated just because Harvard refused to give up its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights in response to illegal authorities overreach,” Boston College legislation professor Jonathan P. Feingold touched on the lawsuit having “nothing to do with defending the civil rights of any pupil.”

“This gambit on the a part of the federal authorities is a part of a wider effort to cripple establishments’ capability to really have truthful admissions processes that keep in mind a complete vary of things past standardized check scores,” Feingold stated.

There could also be some reality to Feingold’s viewpoint. The most recent lawsuit is one in every of a number of launched by President Donald Trump and his administration towards Harvard. President Trump has launched authorized motion towards the college and demanded that it pay a $1 billion tremendous, following a report from The New York Occasions that his administration was stepping again from a money request in negotiations with the college.

He additionally took a serious blow in September 2025, when a choose dominated that the White Home’s $2.7 billion freeze on federal funding for Harvard was unconstitutional.