(CNN) — President Donald Trump took executive action Thursday to expand the type of admissions data given to the federal government from colleges and universities — a move aimed at boosting transparency regarding race-based admissions, a senior White House official said.

In a presidential memorandum, Trump directed Education Secretary Linda McMahon to revamp a longtime US higher education database called the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, which conducts surveys reviewing trends in areas like tuition and fees, admissions considerations, enrollment and financial aid.

The memorandum, the senior official said, instructs McMahon to “expand the scope of required reporting for institutions’ admissions data in order to provide adequate transparency” and to “increase accuracy che

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