The Department of Justice is investigating 15 medical schools for potential discrimination in admissions, the civil rights division announced Thursday, escalating federal scrutiny of how universities evaluate applicants in the wake of the Supreme Court's 2023 ban on affirmative action.
The move follows recent DOJ findings that UCLA and Yale illegally factored race into their medical school admissions decisions. The new investigations will determine whether the schools, all federal funding recipients, comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.
"Many of America's top medical schools appear more concerned about the demographics of their incoming classes than training students to succeed in the profession," Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K Dhillon said in a statement. "Under this justice department, we will continue to protect American students from discriminatory and illegal preferences in admissions, especially in professions as critical as medicine, where quality of training should be the top priority."
The DOJ has not yet identified which schools face investigation or reached conclusions in the cases. UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine responded to the UCLA finding by stating its admissions process is "based on merit" and complies with state and federal law. Yale defended its medical school admissions by emphasizing the "exceptional academic achievement and personal commitment" of its students.
The investigations reflect the Trump administration's intensified focus on college admissions nationwide. Since returning to office in January, the White House has repeatedly accused universities of circumventing the Supreme Court's prohibition on direct racial preferences by using essays, personal statements, and holistic review processes to indirectly factor applicants' race into decisions.
In March, the DOJ launched similar investigations into Stanford University, Ohio State University, and UC San Diego's medical school admissions practices. That same month, President Trump signed an executive action requiring higher education institutions to submit data demonstrating compliance with the affirmative action ban.
The order triggered legal resistance. Seventeen Democratic state attorneys general sued to block the executive action, and a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction in April that stopped the White House from collecting the data.
The medical school investigations represent one piece of a broader administration campaign against higher education institutions. Over the past year, federal authorities have scrutinized universities over campus speech, student activism, diversity programs, and transgender rights policies, with Trump officials asserting these initiatives conflict with mainstream American values.
Author James Rodriguez: "The DOJ is making its move on affirmative action enforcement without waiting for courts to finish sorting out the legal boundaries, a calculated bet that federal authority over education funding gives them leverage regardless."
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