{"id":472920,"date":"2026-09-23T09:41:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T09:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/472920\/"},"modified":"2026-09-23T09:41:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T09:41:09","slug":"ucsf-discriminated-against-white-asian-applicants-doj","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/472920\/","title":{"rendered":"UCSF discriminated against white, Asian applicants: DOJ"},"content":{"rendered":"

A top California medical school is the latest institution to come into the Department of Justice\u2019s crosshairs<\/a> for alleged racial discrimination \u2014 and millions in federal funds could be at risk.<\/p>\n

Federal investigators are accusing University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) officials of illegally discriminating against white and Asian applicants, giving black candidates almost 13 times better odds of admission than white students with similar qualifications in 2025, the California Post has learned. <\/p>\n

Harmeet K. Dhillon<\/a>, assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department\u2019s Civil Rights Division, sent a blistering nine-page findings letter Tuesday to UCSF Chancellor Sam Hawgood, telling the prestigious medical school to come to terms on a resolution or face a lawsuit and other enforcement actions.<\/p>\n

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Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for civil rights at the U.S. Department of Justice, is pictured during an interview in Washington, Monday, Aug. 17, 2026. Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, at UCSF Medical School, MCAT scores and undergraduate GPAs have taken a backseat to race,\u201d Harmeet K. Dhillon,\u00a0 assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department\u2019s Civil Rights Division, told The Post in a statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAspiring doctors should be admitted based on their qualifications. The Supreme Court has spoken clearly \u2014 federally funded medical schools may not admit students based on misguided and illegal notions of diversity.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Justice Department also found that on average, black and Hispanic students admitted between 2023 and 2025 had lower test scores and undergraduate grades than the average white and Asian applicant the school rejected. UCSF admits just 2.5% of more than 10,000-plus annual applicants.<\/p>\n

But in 2025, UCSF admitted 7% of Black applicants and 4.8% of Hispanic applicants, compared with 1.7% of white applicants and 2% of Asian applicants, according to federal officials.<\/p>\n

Jolene Kokroko, a first-year UCSF medical student, reads part of the Hippocratic oath off a flyer with other UCSF medical students and demonstrators after a \u201cdie-in\u201d during a peaceful demonstration at the UCSF\u2019s Parnassus campus in San Francisco, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014. San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images<\/p>\n

White students that year averaged a 519 MCAT score \u2014 in the 96th percentile \u2014 and a 3.95 GPA, while Asian students averaged a 518, in the 95th percentile, and a 3.93 GPA. Admitted black students averaged a 514 and a 3.86 GPA, while Hispanic students averaged a 513 and a 3.88 GPA.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn other words, the average admitted black and Hispanic student academically underperformed the average rejected white and Asian student,\u201d Dhillon wrote.<\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s letter is part of a broader Trump administration crackdown under Dhillon on university admissions practices across the country following the Supreme Court\u2019s 2023 decision prohibiting race-conscious college admissions. The DOJ previously issued similar findings against the medical schools at UCLA<\/a> and UC San Diego<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center is seen on Thursday, October 9, 2008, in Los Angeles. Getty Images<\/p>\n

The Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center is seen on Thursday, October 9, 2008, in Los Angeles. Getty Images<\/p>\n

The DOJ concluded that UCSF \u201cdeliberately discriminated\u201d based on race in its admissions and diversity pipeline programs for the incoming classes of 2023, 2024 and 2025, violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.<\/p>\n

UCSF receives nearly $1 billion in federal funding annually, including a $5 million grant from the Justice Department, according to the letter.<\/p>\n

Executive Vice President of the Appeal of Conscience Foundation Karen Schneier Dresbach, left, meets with Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Justice Harmeet Dhillon on Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026, in Washington. AP Photo\/Kevin Wolf<\/p>\n

Schools officials fired back in a statement Tuesday, saying they \u201cdisagree\u201d with the Justice Department\u2019s findings.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdmission to the UCSF School of Medicine is among the most selective in the country,\u201d officials said. <\/p>\n

\u201cEvery applicant is evaluated through a rigorous, individualized review process that prioritizes academic excellence. Academic achievement is fundamental to that review. Grades, prior coursework, and MCAT scores are important measures of an applicant\u2019s readiness for a UCSF medical education.\u201d <\/p>\n

The UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay, home to UCSF Benioff Children\u2019s Hospital San Francisco, Betty Irene Moore Women\u2019s Hospital and Bakar Cancer Hospital, is pictured on Sunday, February 9, 2020, in San Francisco. Getty Images<\/p>\n

UCSF officials added that other factors include \u201cclinical experience, research, service, leadership\u201d to identify future physicians.<\/p>\n

Feds are accusing UCSF of using application essays, hardship questions, interviews and ostensibly race-neutral criteria as proxies to identify and favor applicants from racial groups the school considers underrepresented in medicine.<\/p>\n

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It also singled out two pipeline programs that offer specialized admission tracks, scholarships and other assistance. Black, Hispanic and other designated students made up 89% of enrollment in one of the programs during the 2024-25 academic year, according to the DOJ.<\/p>\n

The Justice Department\u2019s investigation began in March, and UCSF turned over admissions data after receiving multiple extensions. But the school produced only 83 additional documents, most of which the feds deemed unresponsive. The school also failed to explain racial differences in the grades and MCAT scores of admitted students.<\/p>\n

UC Berkeley Law School has also faced accusations of racial discrimination. JHVEPhoto \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, the Justice Department found that UC Berkeley\u2019s law school deliberately discriminated against white and Asian applicants<\/a>, saying a comparable black applicant had 5.8 times greater odds of admission in 2025.<\/p>\n

The DOJ found in May<\/a> that Yale\u2019s medical school intentionally used racial preferences and proxies in admissions. In February, the department sued Harvard to obtain admissions records<\/a> the university allegedly withheld from investigators reviewing its compliance with federal civil rights law.<\/p>\n

Dhillon invited UCSF to negotiate an agreement to change its admissions practices and pipeline programs, giving the school 10 days to respond. If an agreement cannot be reached by Oct. 2, the feds could seek to force compliance through a lawsuit.<\/p>\n

\u201cAcademic excellence has always been central to our admissions process,\u201d UCSF officials said. \u201cWe will continue to engage constructively with the department and look forward to resolving this matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

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