SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division announced Monday that it finds that the University of California San Diego School of Medicine discriminated based on race in its admissions process.
The investigation found that San Diego Med manipulated applicant data to achieve greater racial diversity in student admissions by using racial proxies, said the DOJ.
The DOJ states that this action violates Title VI, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin, and the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (SFFA), which banned race discrimination in higher education.
One way the DOJ claims the San Diego Med's admissions staff acquired this information was by using answers to “hardship” application questions to determine which applicants were underrepresented minorities in medicine (URM), thereby ensuring more URMs received interviews.
The DOJ found the result of San Diego Med’s manipulation: white and Asian applicants were denied admission in favor of lower-credentialed black and Hispanic applicants.
“Rather than rely on MCAT scores or GPA, San Diego Med’s shadow application process unlawfully judged applicants for admission based on their race,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “San Diego Med’s blatant efforts to prioritize race are illegal, and we will end these practices.”
The department says it will continue to monitor the school's compliance with Title VI and will engage in settlement negotiations where a violation is found.
