The Justice Department has accused the University of California, San Diego's medical school of illegally discriminating against White and Asian applicants by using hardship essays as a proxy for race in its admissions process. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon stated that the admissions committee employed these essays to determine applicants' racial and ethnic backgrounds, thereby giving an unlawful advantage to Black and Hispanic students.
According to a letter sent to the school, the investigation found that between 2019 and 2025, Black applicants were admitted at more than twice the rate of White applicants, despite White applicants generally possessing higher Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) scores and grade point averages (GPAs). Dhillon asserted that UC San Diego Med's admissions process "unlawfully judged applicants for admission based on their race" rather than solely on academic merit.
These findings follow the Supreme Court's 2023 ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which declared race-conscious admissions unconstitutional. The court also clarified that universities cannot use proxies for race, such as application essays, to discriminate or provide a competitive advantage to any racial group.
The Justice Department's investigation concluded that Black and Hispanic students were admitted at significantly higher rates than equally qualified White and Asian applicants. The department indicated that the observed disparities were too consistent to be attributed to chance and that the university had not provided sufficient evidence to explain them.
Internal documents obtained by the Justice Department suggest that UC San Diego's admissions director, Brian Zeglen, developed a plan in June 2023, shortly after the Supreme Court decision. This plan reportedly aimed to "bump up" dozens of applicants with lower MCAT scores and GPAs into consideration for interviews and admission, particularly those identified as underrepresented minorities, while attempting to obscure the race-based nature of the decisions. Zeglen proposed moving up to 62 applicants from a lower-scoring group (Group C) into a higher-tier group (Group B) by giving greater weight to their personal essays.
Following the implementation of Zeglen's plan, admission rates showed a marked difference. In 2023, 6.18% of Black applicants were admitted compared to 2.45% of White applicants. These figures were 5.25% and 2.1% in 2024, and 5.14% and 1.96% in 2025, respectively. The Justice Department also noted that admitted Black and Hispanic students consistently had lower median MCAT scores than their admitted White and Asian counterparts across the incoming classes of 2023, 2024, and 2025.
"San Diego Med's internal documents, including communications among the admissions staff, confirm that San Diego Med intended to racially discriminate in favor of so-called underrepresented minorities, such as blacks and Hispanics," the Justice Department stated. "As a result of these practices, more qualified white and Asian students were denied admission to San Diego Med on the basis of their race."
The Justice Department is seeking a voluntary agreement with UC San Diego to ensure the medical school's admissions policies comply with federal law. Fox News Digital has reached out to UC San Diego Med for comment.