The U.S. Department of Justice has launched probes into 15 medical schools for alleged racial discrimination in admissions . These investigations target institutions like Harvard and UC Davis for potentially bypassing a 2023 Supreme Court ruling.

Harvard's alleged Title VI violations and the 14th Amendment

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is specifically examining whether Harvard University intentionally discriminated against white and Asian American applicants to favor Black and Hispanic candidates. According to the DOJ, these practices may constitute a violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination in programs receiving federal financial assistance.

Beyond statutory violations, the DOJ claims that the admissions processes at Harvard University run afoul of the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause. This legal framing suggests the government is not merely looking at administrative errors, but is alleging a systemic effort to maintain racial quotas under a different guise.

The 'Davis Scale' and the proxy war at UC Davis Medical School

A central focus of the federal probe is the University of California, Davis School of Medicine, where administrators are accused of openly attempting to "skirt" the 2023 Supreme Court mandate. As reported by the DOJ, the school implemented a mechanism known as the "Davis Scale," which ranked applicants based on perceived disadvantages.

The DOJ alleges that the University of California, Davis School of Medicine used this scale to adjust the weight of GPA and MCAT scores, effectively using socioeconomic variables as a proxy for race.. This system reportedly allowed the institution to become the third most racially diverse medical school in the United States, trailing only historically Black universities, but the DOJ argues this was achieved through blatant racial bias.

The 6x admission gap and the 93% MCAT dispairty

The DOJ's case relies heavily on academic data spanning 2023 to 2025. The report says that 93% of white and certain Asian medical students possessed MCAT scores that were equal to or higher than those of their Black counterparts.

Despite this academic gap, the DOJ found that Black and Hispanic studetns were admitted at rates up to six times higher than white and Asian students. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon characterized these actions as showing "unabashed contempt for the rule of law," arguing that prioritizing race over merit could lead to negative public health consequences.

The Trump administration's push for colorblind medical standards

These investigations are part of a broader strategic effort by the Trump administration to enforce colorblind admissions across higher education. by targeting medical schools, the administration is signaling that the 2023 Supreme Court ruling against race-conscious admissions will be strictly enforced in high-stakes professional degrees .

The stakes for these institutions are significant. If the U.S. Department of Justice finds systemic non-compliance, the affected medical schools could face legal sanctions or the total loss of federal funding, which would be catastrophic for research-heavy institutions like Harvard University.

Which 13 other schools face DOJ scrutiny?

While the DOJ has highlighted the specific failures at Harvard University and the University of California, Davis School of Medicine, the identities of the other 13 medical schools under investigation remain undisclosed. It is currently unknown whether these other institutions utilized similar "proxy" scales or if their investigations are based on different types of evidence.

Furthermore, the source provides the DOJ's perspective but does not include responses from the administrations of the targeted schools. it remains to be seen how these institutions will legally defend the use of socioeconomic data as a legitimate, race-neutral tool for increasing diversity.