The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026, its finding that the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Law discriminated against white and Asian students in its admissions process. The DOJ alleged the school operated a "two-tiered" system where academic standards for acceptance were adjusted based on the race of the applicant. The UCLA School of Law issued a statement the same day disputing the findings, asserting that its admissions process is merit-based and complies with all applicable laws.
This enforcement action follows an investigation into UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine, which the DOJ concluded on May 6, 2026, also finding that the school engaged in racial discrimination. The Trump administration has extended similar scrutiny to the law schools at Duke University and the University of California, Berkeley, as well as medical schools at Stanford, Ohio State, and the University of California, San Diego. These actions follow the 2023 Supreme Court decision that limited the use of race in college admissions.
According to Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, the analysis of the law school’s 2023, 2024, and 2025 incoming classes showed that the school rejected white and Asian students who applied with the same LSAT scores as Black and Hispanic students it admitted. In its separate finding regarding the medical school, the DOJ reported that Black students admitted in 2024 had an average GPA of 3.72, compared to 3.84 for Asian Americans and 3.83 for white students. The DOJ also criticized a medical school application prompt that invited students to discuss their membership in "marginalized groups."
The outcome of this investigation sets a precedent for how federal authorities interpret the 2023 Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action. Specifically, the DOJ indicated it will treat non-academic "proxies" for race, such as questions regarding marginalized group status, as potential violations of federal law. Institutions found in violation face the risk of losing federal financial assistance, which medical and law schools rely on to fund training and operations. This could eventually impact university budgets and the availability of student aid if schools do not align their processes with the DOJ’s findings.
What happens next depends on whether UCLA and the DOJ can reach a voluntary resolution to adjust admissions practices. If no agreement is reached, the DOJ indicated it could pursue legal action to force compliance. The Trump administration has already moved to require colleges nationwide to collect and report data demonstrating they are not using race as a factor. Meanwhile, a coalition of 17 Democratic state attorneys general filed a lawsuit in March 2026 to challenge these federal data collection requirements. Future court dates or deadlines for UCLA’s response to the law school findings were not reported.