Justice Department Opens Investigations into Admissions Practices at Three Medical Schools

By Michael C. Bender and Alan Blinder

*March 26, 2026*

The Justice Department has notified Stanford University, Ohio State University and the University of California, San Diego, of investigations into their medical school admissions policies and requested related data.


*Enrollment in medical programs is generally smaller than in undergraduate programs. Stanford University's incoming medical class this year had 119 students. Credit: David Madison, via Getty Images*

The Justice Department informed Stanford University, Ohio State University and the University of California, San Diego, on Wednesday of investigations into their medical school admissions practices. The department requested data from the past seven years, including applicants' test scores, home ZIP codes, familial relationships to alumni and ties to university donors. It also sought internal university messages about diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, as well as correspondence between school officials and pharmaceutical companies regarding admissions.

The requests, reviewed by The New York Times, set an April 24 deadline for submission, with potential interruptions to federal funding if not met, according to two administration officials familiar with the matter.

“At this time, our investigation will focus on possible race discrimination in medical school admissions,” Harmeet K. Dhillon, the Justice Department’s assistant attorney general for civil rights, wrote in letters to each school.

Ms. Dhillon posted a photo on social media Wednesday afternoon showing her signing one of the letters with a Pelikan Souverän fountain pen featuring an 18-karat gold, extra-fine nib. “Launching a series of civil rights investigations,” she wrote. “Another day in paradise!”

A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment on how the three schools were selected. The inquiries are occurring under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color or national origin in programs receiving federal funding. Such investigations can be initiated proactively without a specific complaint.

Prior external complaints provide context for scrutiny of some schools. The organization Do No Harm filed complaints with the Office for Civil Rights at the Education Department in June 2022 and October 2022 against Ohio State University’s College of Medicine. These alleged race-based eligibility in a URiM Radiology Scholarship and an NIH PREP program. Ohio State removed the race-based criteria in 2023. Separately, the Liberty Justice Center sent demand letters in 2023 to more than 150 medical schools, including Stanford, Ohio State and UC San Diego, calling for an end to race-based admissions following the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard.

Officials at all three universities confirmed receipt of the notices. A Stanford spokeswoman declined to comment. UC San Diego stated it was reviewing the notice and is “committed to fair processes in all of our programs and activities, including admissions, consistent with federal and state anti-discrimination laws.” Ohio State spokesman Ben Johnson said the university is “fully compliant with all state and federal regulations and legal rulings regarding admissions.”

The investigations leverage federal funding ties between the government and universities. Since the 1950s, the federal government has been the primary source of research funding for universities, according to the National Science Foundation. The National Institutes of Health (NIH), a major funder, distributes about $35 billion annually, with medical schools among the largest recipients, per the Association of American Medical Colleges.

All three schools rank highly in NIH funding. In 2025, Stanford received $575 million, second overall behind UC San Francisco, according to the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research. UC San Diego ranked 14th with $427 million, and Ohio State ranked 35th with $210 million.

These probes are part of broader examinations of college admissions following the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision, which ended race-conscious admissions at public and private universities. The ruling prohibits using race as a direct factor but left open questions about indirect considerations, such as through essays or interviews. University officials have argued that such approaches remain permissible.

The Justice Department’s investigations have examined potential discrimination against white and Asian applicants. According to 2024 data from the Association of American Medical Colleges and published in JAMA, average MCAT scores and GPAs for medical school matriculants varied by race: Asians scored 513.9 on the MCAT with a 3.84 GPA; whites 511.2 and 3.81; Hispanics 508.9 and 3.65; and Blacks 505.9 and 3.62. Acceptance rates were 50.5% for Asians, 50.6% for whites, 43.4% for Hispanics and 35.9% for Blacks.

For the 2025-26 academic year, the Association of American Medical Colleges reported 99,400 medical students enrolled nationwide: 42% white, 28% Asian and 8% Black. Ohio State’s medical enrollment mirrored this closely. Stanford’s medical school had 13% Black students, while UC San Diego had 6%. Both California schools had roughly half as many white students as Ohio State but higher proportions of Asian students.

Medical school enrollments are smaller than undergraduate programs, potentially heightening privacy concerns. Stanford’s incoming class had 119 students, Ohio State 211 and UC San Diego 140.

Earlier this month, 17 Democratic state attorneys general sued the Education Department over its requests for admissions data via the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), a standard survey covering all colleges. The lawsuit, separate from these Justice Department medical school probes, argued the data requests risked identifying students and exposing sensitive information, including financial aid details.

In the letters, Ms. Dhillon stated that civil rights laws take precedence over privacy concerns and that the information would be maintained under federal confidentiality requirements.

The investigations did not stem from specific new complaints but from the department’s authority to review federally funded institutions. UC San Diego, part of the University of California system, largely enrolls California residents. The Trump administration has scrutinized other UC campuses, including Berkeley, which Ms. Dhillon visited last year; Los Angeles, sued last month over alleged indifference to antisemitism and facing a separate Justice Department challenge to its medical school admissions; and San Diego itself, subject to an Education Department probe into Title VI violations related to antisemitic harassment and discrimination.

Stanford faced a Justice Department inquiry last March into its admissions and an Education Department review last year of antisemitism accusations.

The smaller scale of medical school classes underscores the stakes. At Stanford, pictured, the incoming class this academic year had 119 students.


*The University of California, San Diego, ranked 14th among medical schools in 2025, with $427 million in NIH grants. Credit: Jeremy Graham, via Alamy*

*Susan C. Beachy contributed research. Alan Blinder covers education for The Times.*

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