Federal investigators said UCSF School of Medicine used race during admissions for its 2023 through 2025 entering classes, finding substantially higher admission rates for Black and Hispanic applicants than similarly situated White applicants with comparable academic and socioeconomic characteristics.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
The Justice Department said Tuesday that the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine discriminated against White and Asian applicants by considering race when deciding which candidates advanced through its admissions process and ultimately received offers of admission.
The Civil Rights Division concluded that UCSF violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the requirements stemming from the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, according to findings released after a federal investigation into the medical school’s 2023, 2024 and 2025 entering classes.
Federal investigators focused on UCSF’s three-stage admissions process, consisting of a primary application, secondary application and interview. According to the Justice Department, applicants were prompted to identify and discuss their race during the first two stages, while fewer than 10% of candidates completing secondary applications ultimately advanced to interviews.
The department said its review found significant differences in who moved forward.
Black and Hispanic applicants were invited to interviews at higher rates than White and Asian applicants even when the latter groups had stronger undergraduate grade point averages and Medical College Admission Test scores, according to the federal findings.
The disparities continued through final admissions decisions, federal lawyers said.
After controlling for MCAT scores, undergraduate GPAs and socioeconomic characteristics, UCSF was 4.6 times more likely to admit a Hispanic applicant and 12.6 times more likely to admit a Black applicant than a White applicant with the same measured characteristics during the 2023 through 2025 period, according to the Justice Department. The department said Black and Hispanic applicants also had higher admission probabilities when compared with similarly situated Asian applicants.
“Unfortunately, at UCSF Medical School, MCAT scores and undergraduate GPAs have taken a backseat to race,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement.
“Aspiring doctors should be admitted based on their qualifications. The Supreme Court has spoken clearly — federally funded medical schools may not admit students based on misguided and illegal notions of diversity.”
The Justice Department characterized the statistical disparities and UCSF’s admissions procedures as evidence that race affected decisions about which applicants received interviews and eventual admission. The department said admitted Black and Hispanic candidates during the three-year period academically underperformed, on average, rejected White and Asian candidates.
The findings represent the department’s conclusion following its investigation rather than a court judgment against UCSF. The federal government is initially seeking a voluntary agreement with the university rather than immediately filing a lawsuit.
The Justice Department has asked UCSF to contact federal officials by Oct. 2 to begin discussions over a voluntary resolution agreement designed to bring its admissions practices and related programs into compliance with Title VI. The department said it could pursue litigation if voluntary compliance efforts fail.
UPI said it requested comment from UCSF Medical School following release of the findings.
The UCSF investigation is part of a broader Justice Department examination of admissions practices at prominent medical schools, law schools and other universities following the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision involving Harvard University and the University of North Carolina.
The Supreme Court ruled in June 2023 that the admissions programs challenged at Harvard and UNC violated constitutional and statutory requirements governing the consideration of race in higher education. The decision sharply restricted universities’ ability to use an applicant’s race as an admissions factor.
President Donald Trump subsequently directed federal agencies to increase enforcement of those requirements after returning to office.
On Jan. 21, 2025, his second day in office, Trump signed an executive order directing the attorney general and education secretary to issue guidance to federally funded educational institutions concerning compliance with the Supreme Court ruling. The order also instructed federal agencies to address what the administration considers unlawful diversity, equity and inclusion practices.
The Justice Department informed UCSF Medical School on March 30 that it was investigating the institution and requested admissions information and documents concerning its policies and procedures.
Federal scrutiny has since expanded across higher education, with the Civil Rights Division opening investigations into numerous medical schools to determine whether race continued to influence admissions after the Supreme Court ruling. In June, the department announced investigations into 15 additional medical schools, saying the reviews would examine compliance with Title VI and the 2023 decision. At the time those investigations were opened, the department said it had not reached conclusions concerning the schools under review.
The department has subsequently announced findings against several institutions.
Federal officials concluded earlier this year that the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine used race in its admissions process. The department alleged UC San Diego’s procedures resulted in White and Asian applicants being denied admission in favor of Black and Hispanic applicants with lower academic credentials.
The Civil Rights Division also announced findings involving Yale School of Medicine, saying its investigation concluded that race influenced admissions decisions and that Black and Hispanic applicants had higher chances of admission than White or Asian applicants with comparable test scores.
Other investigations have produced findings involving the University of California, Davis School of Medicine and George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, among additional institutions.
The administration has also extended its admissions enforcement efforts beyond medical schools. Federal officials have investigated law schools, including the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, as part of the same broader effort to determine whether universities receiving federal money are complying with Title VI and the Supreme Court’s admissions ruling.
Because medical schools receive substantial federal financial assistance, the Justice Department maintains they are subject to Title VI, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color or national origin in programs receiving federal funding.
The UCSF findings center not merely on differences in the racial composition of incoming classes but on the Justice Department’s assertion that applicants’ race was available to admissions officials and affected advancement through the school’s application process.
According to the department, both UCSF’s primary and secondary applications permitted applicants to identify or discuss race. Investigators then examined how candidates advanced through the application stages and compared admissions outcomes among applicants with similar MCAT scores, GPAs and socioeconomic characteristics.
The department concluded from that review that race was being used when determining which students progressed toward interviews and admission.
UCSF now faces an Oct. 2 deadline to indicate whether it will enter negotiations with the Justice Department over a voluntary compliance agreement. Federal officials said that where institutions found to be violating Title VI do not reach satisfactory settlements, the department is prepared to pursue the disputes in court.
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