UCLA medical school illegally used race in admissions, justice department finds

Source: The Guardian/AP

Wed 6 May 2026 17.53 EDT
Last modified on Wed 6 May 2026 18.31 EDT


The US Department of Justice found on Wednesday that the medical school at the University of California, Los Angeles illegally considered race in admissions as the Trump administration ramps up scrutiny of colleges’ processes for selecting students. The finding escalates the Trump administration’s ongoing standoff with UCLA, which has focused mostly on the main campus’s response to allegations of antisemitic harassment.

The David Geffen school of medicine at UCLA said in a written statement that its admissions process is “based on merit” and that it is committed to complying with state and federal laws. It said it is reviewing the justice department findings.

Affirmative action in college admissions has been illegal since a 2023 supreme court ruling forbade it. The same ruling said colleges could continue to assess how applicants’ backgrounds might speak to broader characteristics, but Donald Trump has accused colleges of using applicants’ personal statements and other proxies to consider race in admissions, which conservatives view as illegal discrimination.

In March, the justice department opened investigations into possible race-based discrimination in medical school admissions at Stanford University, Ohio State University and the University of California, San Diego. The Trump administration previously targeted undergraduate admissions at selective colleges, demanding they collect data to show they are complying with the supreme court ruling. A year-long investigation into UCLA by the justice department found its medical school discriminated against white and Asian American students by favoring Black and Hispanic applicants.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/06/justice-department-ucla-race-admissions