The Trump administration has accused UC San Diego's medical school of illegally discriminating against White and Asian applicants in favor of admitting less qualified Black and Hispanic students, putting nearly $1 billion in federal funding at risk.The findings stem from a months-long Justice Department Civil Rights Division investigation launched in March and come as the Trump administration intensifies its effort to dismantle diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.According to a letter sent to the school by Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K.Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, the admissions committee used applicants' responses to a "hardship" essay question to determine their racial and ethnic backgrounds, using the essays as a proxy for race in deciding who advanced in the admissions process.
The investigation found that from 2019 to 2025, Black applicants to UC San Diego Med were admitted at more than twice the rate of White applicants, even though White applicants, on average, had higher MCAT scores and GPAs."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 a statement."San Diego Med’s blatant efforts to prioritize race are illegal, and we will end these practices."JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ZEROES IN ON UCLA FOR ALLEGED ILLEGAL DEI ADMISSIONS AS ELITE SCHOOL CRACKDOWN EXPANDSA split image showing the UC San Diego central campus stop on the MTS Mid-Coast Extension Blue Line in San Diego, California, on Oct.
14, 2021 (left), and Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon arriving for a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington, D.C., on Sept.29, 2025 (right).
(K.C.Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune via Getty Images, Andrew Harnik / Getty Images)In 2023, the Supreme Court ruled in Students for Fair Admissions v.
Harvard that it is unconstitutional for colleges and universities to consi...