Overview
- The Justice Department, which issued its findings Thursday, concluded Yale School of Medicine intentionally considered race in selecting the 2023–2025 classes in violation of federal civil-rights law.
- Investigators cited internal documents and training materials that described using racial proxies within holistic review, along with data showing Black and Hispanic applicants were admitted with lower GPAs and MCATs than White and Asian peers with similar credentials.
- The department’s analysis said a Black applicant could face as much as 29 times higher odds of receiving an interview than an equally qualified Asian applicant, indicating what it called ongoing disparate treatment.
- Federal officials said they will pursue a voluntary resolution agreement to end the use of race in admissions and noted they can sue to enforce Title VI, a step that can put federally funded programs at risk if violations persist.
- Yale said it is reviewing the letter and disputed the findings, as the action follows a similar DOJ determination about UCLA’s medical school last week and ongoing probes at Stanford, Ohio State and UC San Diego after the Supreme Court’s 2023 ban on race-conscious admissions.