EDITORS' CORNER
School admits ‘academically underperformed’ black and Hispanic students, according to investigation
A Department of Justice investigation found that the University of California San Francisco’s medical school is covertly continuing race-based admissions practices – a claim the institution denies.
The DOJ Civil Rights Division announced the finding against the school Tuesday as part of a larger series of investigations into campus admissions practices throughout the country.
“Unfortunately, at UCSF Medical School, MCAT scores and undergraduate GPAs have taken a backseat to race,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon stated in a news release.
Dhillon’s office found that the UCSF Medical School asks potential students about their race in its application process and admits black and Hispanic students who “academically underperformed the average rejected white and Asian student.”
“But even where MCAT score, undergraduate GPA, and socioeconomic traits were the same when compared to white applicants, UCSF Medical School was 4.6 times more likely to admit Hispanic applicants and 12.6 times more likely to admit black applicants,” according to the investigation. “When compared to Asian applicants, black and Hispanic applicants had similarly higher chances of admission.”
The department says the school violated civil rights law and the U.S. Supreme Court decision Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which banned race-based admissions practices in 2023.
“Aspiring doctors should be admitted based on their qualifications,” Assistant Attorney General Dhillon stated. “The Supreme Court has spoken clearly — federally funded medical schools may not admit students based on misguided and illegal notions of diversity.”
However, UCSF disagrees with the findings, Reuters reports:
The DOJ wrote a letter to the school on Tuesday, saying it sought a voluntary compliance agreement while urging the school to contact the DOJ by October 2. If those efforts fail, the DOJ said it will file suit.
“UC San Francisco disagrees with the Department of Justice’s finding regarding the School of Medicine’s admissions process,” the university said late on Tuesday.
It said that every applicant to its medical school is evaluated “through a rigorous, individualized review process that prioritizes academic excellence.”
The university said it would continue to engage “constructively” with the DOJ and looked forward to resolving the matter.
The Justice Department has issued a slew of similar investigation findings in recent months, including UC Davis’s and UC San Diego’s medical schools. At least five others are currently under investigation for racial discrimination allegations, The College Fix reported in July.
Others accused of discriminating against students based on their race include UC Berkeley Law, George Washington University, and Duke University Law.
MORE: DOJ accuses Yale of defying Supreme Court with racial preferences in admissions
