The Trump administration on Wednesday blasted the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law for allegedly favoring Black applicants while discriminating against Asian and White students, marking its latest federal action targeting race-conscious admissions policies at universities.The Department of Justice (DOJ), along with the Department of Education, found Berkeley Law in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits racial discrimination in programs and activities receiving federal funds."The data produced by Berkeley Law demonstrates a strong bias against Asian and White applicants, with a corresponding bias in favor of Black applicants," the DOJ said.The findings came after officials launched a compliance review of Berkeley Law in March 2025, roughly two years after the Supreme Court struck a major blow to affirmative action programs many universities used in admissions for decades.California had already banned affirmative action in public education under Proposition 209, enacted in 1996.JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ZEROES IN ON UCLA FOR ALLEGED ILLEGAL DEI ADMISSIONS AS ELITE SCHOOL CRACKDOWN EXPANDSBerkeley Law in Berkeley, Calif., on June 4, 2021.
Federal officials allege Black applicants had higher admission odds than comparable White applicants at Berkeley Law.(David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)According to the DOJ's analysis, Black applicants in 2025 had "5.8 times higher odds of admission than comparable white applicants."An analysis of LSAT scores for admitted students in 2024 and 2025 found that 37% of Black admitted applicants scored below 99% of admitted White applicants.In addition, half of the school's admitted Black applicants had LSAT scores "below 95% of the admitted white applicants."According to figures cited by the DOJ, median LSAT scores from 2021 through 2025 showed a persistent disparity between racial groups, with Black admits scoring around 165.
Asian and White admits scored around 172, while Hispanic ...