US Department Of Justice Accuses UC San Diego Medical School Of Considering Race In Admissions

The US Department of Justice has accused the University of California, San Diego’s medical school of discriminating against White and Asian applicants by favouring Black and Hispanic applicants. The DOJ believes that UC San Diego’s medical school violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The law bans discrimination based on race, colour, or national origin in initiatives or activities that receive federal aid.

The DOJ accusing UC San Diego of discrimination against white students

In a letter published on Monday, Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for the DOJ’s civil rights division, said UC San Diego’s medical school used terms such as “hardship,” “disadvantage” and “distance traveled as substitutes for race in the admission process.

“Rather than rely on MCAT scores or GPA, San Diego Med’s shadow application process unlawfully judged applicants for admission based on their race,” she said.

How many Black students are in medical school?

In 2019, a study by AAMC found that the largest proportions of medical school graduates were White (54.6%), Asian (21.6%), and Multiple Race/Ethnicity (8.0%). In 2025, another study found that more Black students applied for medical school, but only a few were accepted. The total number of Black medical school applicants for 2025-2026 increased by 1.8 % from last year and by 3.4% from 2023-2024.

But Black students represent 8.4% of this year’s total 23,440 medical school matriculants. This is the lowest number of Black students in medical school in years, according to The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education.

The Trump administration targeting universities

Since President Donald Trump revoked a six-decade-old executive order that prohibited workplace discrimination by federal contractors, the Trump administration has sought out universities allegedly promoting DEI.

Last August, President Donald Trump signed a new order that requires universities to share detailed data on the demographics of their incoming classes each year. The order will allow Department of Education officials to see if universities are still using banned programs that support underrepresented groups.

In the same month, the Supreme Court allowed the Trump Administration to cut grants issued by the National Institutes of Health in a bid to end federal DEI efforts. The court’s ruling marks a significant reversal, enabling the administration to reinstate grants that it had begun cutting in Late February of 2025.

Image: Kevin Carter