DOJ accuses Yale School of Medicine of continuing affirmative action in its admissions process

The Department of Justice (DOJ) found that Yale University School of Medicine discriminated against applicants on the basis of race during the admissions process. The investigation was conducted by the Civil Rights Division, which found that the institution "intentionally selected applicants based on their race," despite a Supreme Court ruling prohibiting positive discrimination at universities.

In 2023, the nation's highest court decided Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard. The ruling, which was decided 6-3, left established that race cannot be used as a selection criterion, reaffirming the principle of equality before the law. Since then, universities have been forced to redesign their admission processes under meritocratic and neutral standards.

In 2025, the Trump Administration began investigating whether colleges receiving federal funds were complying with the law, requesting detailed race-disaggregated admissions data, including academic metrics and evaluation criteria used in the selection processes.

In this context, the DOJ released a statement with the results of its investigation. The agency noted that documents obtained during the investigation show that Yale used metrics to "circumvent" the Court's ruling.

According to the missive, they found that, in general, "Black and Hispanic applicants were admitted with consistently lower academic qualifications than their White and Asian counterparts." " Therefore, the agency led by Todd Blanche contends that Yale violated the law by intentionally discriminating based on race in its admissions."

"Yale has continued its race-based admissions program despite the Supreme Court and the public’s clear mandate for reform," Harmeet K. Dhillon, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, said of the case.

"This Department will continue to shed light on these illegal practices and demand that institutions of higher education comply with federal law," he added.

In March 2026, the DOJ announced that it was also investigating other medical schools for suspicious practices in admissions processes: Stanford University, Ohio State University and the University of California, San Diego.