Summary
The U.S. Department of Justice said Wednesday that it found the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, illegally considered race in admissions. The finding escalates the Trump administration’s scrutiny of how colleges select students after a 2023 Supreme Court ruling ended affirmative action in higher-education admissions.
The Justice Department’s finding is also part of a broader federal pressure campaign that has included investigations into possible race-based discrimination at other medical schools. In UCLA’s case, the department said its year-long investigation found the medical school discriminated against white and Asian American students by favoring Black and Hispanic applicants.
UCLA’s medical school, the David Geffen School of Medicine, said in a written statement that its admission process is “based on merit” and that it is committed to complying with state and federal laws. The school said it is reviewing the Justice Department’s findings.
The department’s evidence included admissions data it said showed admitted students who were Black or Hispanic had lower average grade-point averages and test scores in 2023 and 2024. Among Black students admitted in 2024, the department said the average GPA was 3.72, compared with 3.84 for Asian Americans and 3.83 for white students.
The Justice Department said those statistics were evidence that the medical school used non-academic factors to reach diversity goals. The department also said it took issue with an application document that invited students to volunteer whether they were part of a marginalized group and, if so, to discuss its impact, a question the department said was included in 2024 and 2025.
The case sits within the post-affirmative-action legal landscape created by the 2023 Supreme Court decision. While the ruling barred affirmative action in admissions, it said colleges could assess how applicants’ backgrounds might relate to broader characteristics; the Justice Department’s finding reflects the administration’s position that colleges may be using personal statements and other proxies in ways that amount to race-based consideration.
California voters ended affirmative action in college admissions in a 1997 ballot measure, and the UC system has argued in a Supreme Court filing connected to the same broader admissions fight that the change led to a steep drop in underrepresented minorities, particularly at the most selective campuses. In that filing, the UC system said it implemented “numerous and wideranging race-neutral measures designed to increase diversity of all sorts, including racial diversity,” while still saying it struggled to increase campus diversity.
The Justice Department’s finding sets up what it described as a path toward voluntary resolution to bring UCLA into compliance with the department’s legal interpretation, or legal action if no agreement is reached. Potential consequences could include a loss of federal funding.
The department’s action comes as the Trump administration faces resistance in court from state officials. In March, a coalition of 17 Democratic state attorneys general filed a lawsuit challenging a Trump administration policy requiring higher education institutions to collect data intended to show they are not considering race in admissions.
In a letter of findings, Harmeet Dhillon, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said the department concluded that “as a result of these practices, highly qualified White, Asian, and other students were denied admission on the basis of their race.” The Justice Department said it will now seek compliance or pursue further legal steps if the parties do not reach a voluntary resolution.