Key facts
- The Department of Justice said UCLA's law school illegally considered race in admissions.
- The DOJ accused UCLA Law of discriminating against white and Asian American students by favoring Black and Hispanic applicants.
The Department of Justice said Thursday that UCLA's law school illegally considered race in admissions, following a similar accusation against the university's medical school. The university denied the claims, stating its admissions are merit-based and compliant with the law. The accusation comes amid increased scrutiny of college admissions processes after a 2023 Supreme Court ruling.
The Justice Department's accusation against UCLA Law highlights ongoing legal and political battles over affirmative action and race-conscious admissions policies in the United States, potentially impacting how universities recruit and select students.
The Department of Justice announced on Thursday that the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) law school illegally considered race in its admissions processes. This action follows similar accusations against the university's medical school and is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to scrutinize how colleges select students.
The administration has previously targeted UC Berkeley School of Law and the University of California, San Diego's medical school, alleging discrimination against white and Asian applicants. The UCLA School of Law has refuted these claims, issuing a statement that it is committed to complying with all applicable laws and that its admissions decisions are based on a comprehensive, merit-based review of each applicant's achievements and experiences.
Affirmative action in college admissions has been prohibited since a Supreme Court ruling in 2023. However, the ruling allowed colleges to consider how applicants' backgrounds might inform broader characteristics. The Justice Department stated that UCLA's law school discriminated against white and Asian American students by favoring Black and Hispanic applicants for its 2023, 2024, and 2025 incoming classes. The department's analysis indicated that admitted Black applicants had a lower mean LSAT score than admitted white applicants. Furthermore, the DOJ alleged that admissions staff at UCLA Law provided guidance during recruitment events, such as the "Diversity Admissions Open House," on how to disclose race in application essays.
Harmeet Dhillon, head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, stated that UCLA Law operates a "two-tiered admissions system" where the academic bar for acceptance varies based on race. Earlier this year, the Trump administration attempted to obtain data on the race and sex of applicants, admitted students, and enrolled students from higher education institutions to investigate potential race considerations. However, a federal judge in August issued a preliminary injunction halting this data collection effort, finding that while the government likely had the authority to collect the data, the demand was implemented in a "rushed and chaotic" manner. Seventeen Democratic state attorney generals had filed suit, arguing that the data collection risked student privacy violations and could lead to baseless investigations, and that universities were not given sufficient time to comply.
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