Resources
Additional Information
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Incident Nature:
Other
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Incident Political Orientation:
Not Clear -
Incident Responses:
Title IX or other federal statute
Other
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Incident Status:
No litigation
- Did not involve Speech Codes
Summary
On March 26 2026 the Department of Justice opened a civil rights investigation into admissions practices at UC San Diego School of Medicine. The inquiry centers on whether the medical school may have improperly considered race in admissions decisions in violation of federal civil rights law following the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling restricting the use of race in admissions. The action is part of a broader federal review of medical school admissions practices at multiple institutions.
As part of the investigation federal officials requested extensive admissions records covering multiple admissions cycles. The request includes applicant level data demographic information academic indicators such as GPA and standardized test scores admissions outcomes and internal materials related to admissions policies and procedures. Officials also requested documentation used in the evaluation of applicants and materials describing how admissions criteria are applied in practice.
The inquiry also seeks internal communications and policy documents related to admissions decision making including information concerning whether and how race was considered directly or indirectly in the admissions process. The investigation is focused on assessing whether admissions practices comply with federal civil rights requirements following the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision.
UC San Diego indicated it would review and respond to the federal request and stated that its admissions practices comply with applicable federal law and governing Supreme Court precedent. No findings of wrongdoing have been made and the matter remains in the investigative stage.
The Department of Justice opened parallel investigations into Stanford University School of Medicine and Ohio State University College of Medicine subjecting those institutions to similar requests for admissions records applicant data and internal documentation related to admissions criteria and the consideration of race in selection processes.
