ACTS Countdown: Who Must File, What to Report, and What’s at Stake?
On December 18, 2025, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) opened the new IPEDS Admissions and Consumer Transparency Supplement (ACTS) after receiving approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). ACTS operationalizes the August 5, 2025, presidential memorandum and the secretary’s directive on “Ensuring Transparency in Higher Education Admissions,” signaling increased Title VI oversights of admissions and scholarship practices. For covered institutions, this means a new, time-bound obligation to submit six years of disaggregated undergraduate and graduate data through the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS).
