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Dhillon says UC San Diego discriminated against Asian applicants
Justice Department cites unlawful admissions process violating federal civil rights law and Supreme Court ruling.
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Ankita Baidya - Tue, 21, Jul 2026
- 03:00 EDT
- 67
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon announced the DOJ's findings on UC San Diego's admissions practices. / X/ Harmeet Dhillon
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon announced that the U.S. Department of Justice has found the University of California San Diego School of Medicine violated federal civil rights law by using race in its admissions process, alleging the school discriminated against Asian and white applicants in favor of other racial groups.
The announcement was made by the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, which concluded that the medical school's admissions practices violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the U.S. Supreme Court's 2023 ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which prohibited race-conscious admissions in higher education.
Also read: Harmeet Dhillon challenges California handgun sales restrictions
"Rather than rely on MCAT scores or GPA, San Diego Med's shadow application process unlawfully judged applicants for admission based on their race," Dhillon said in the department's statement.
"San Diego Med's blatant efforts to prioritize race are illegal, and we will end these practices," she added.
According to the Justice Department, the medical school operated what it described as a "shadow application process" that considered applicants' race rather than relying primarily on traditional academic indicators such as Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) scores and undergraduate grade point averages.
The department's investigation found that admissions staff used applicants' responses to "hardship" questions- designed to allow candidates to explain personal challenges- to identify individuals considered "underrepresented minorities in medicine," a category that includes Black and Hispanic applicants.
Applicants were then grouped according to their MCAT scores and GPAs, with additional "hardship" subgroups created before interview decisions were made, according to the findings.
The Justice Department also said admissions reviewers were provided access to applicants' racial identities during parts of the review process in certain admissions cycles after the Supreme Court's 2023 decision. According to the department, this allowed the school to increase interview invitations for underrepresented minority applicants while circumventing the court's prohibition on race-conscious admissions.
The department concluded that the admissions process resulted in white and Asian applicants being denied admission in favor of applicants from other racial groups with lower academic credentials. The findings could be of particular interest to Indian-origin applicants, who represent a significant share of Asian American students applying to U.S. medical schools each year.
The Justice Department said medical schools that receive federal financial assistance must comply with federal anti-discrimination laws, including Title VI, regardless of the Supreme Court's ruling.
The department said it is pursuing settlement negotiations with UC San Diego School of Medicine to bring its admissions policies into compliance with federal law. If those negotiations are unsuccessful, the Justice Department said it is prepared to file a lawsuit.
The Civil Rights Division added that it will continue monitoring colleges, universities and professional schools for compliance with Title VI and the Students for Fair Admissions decision as part of its broader enforcement of federal civil rights laws.
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