UC San Francisco’s medical school illegally used race in admissions, discriminating against white and Asian applicants in favor of Black and Latino ones, the Department of Justice alleged Tuesday.
The allegations expand the Trump administration’s scrutiny of University of California admissions after similar findings against UC Berkeley’s law school this month and medical schools at UCLA, UC San Diego and UC Davis. Those campuses — as well as UCSF — have disputed the department’s findings and said their admissions practices comply with the law.
In a nine-page letter to UCSF Chancellor Sam Hawgood, the Justice Department alleged the medical school used racially discriminatory practices when selecting its incoming classes of 2023, 2024 and 2025. It said the practices violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars racial discrimination by institutions receiving federal money, and the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling against race-based affirmative action in college admissions.
“Unfortunately, at UCSF Medical School, MCAT scores and undergraduate GPAs have taken a back seat to race,” Assistant Atty. Gen. Harmeet K. Dhillon said in a statement. “Aspiring doctors should be admitted based on their qualifications.”
In a statement, a UCSF spokesperson said the university disagrees with the finding.
“We will continue to engage constructively with the department and look forward to resolving this matter,” the statement said.
The department asked UCSF to respond by Oct. 2 if it is willing to pursue a voluntary agreement to change its practices. It said it would sue if settlement efforts fail.
The letter said UCSF receives nearly $1 billion annually in federal funding. The majority is from the National Institutes of Health — $824 million in 2025 — for medical research. The Justice Department notice did not explicitly threaten a funding cutoff.
The notice said the investigation began March 30 with requests for admissions data and documents about the school’s selection policies and practices. After granting extensions, the department said it received the data and 83 other documents, most of which did not address its requests.
Test scores and undergraduate grades are central to the department’s case. Its notice said admitted Black and Latino applicants had lower averages on those measures than both admitted and rejected white and Asian applicants.
For students admitted in 2025, the Justice Department reported average scores on the Medical College Admission Test of 514 for Black students and 513 for Latino students. The averages were 519 for white students and 518 for Asian students.
The department said it found a similar pattern when it compared applicants with the same test scores, undergraduate grades and socioeconomic characteristics. In its analysis of 2025 admissions, it said Black applicants were 12.6 times more likely than comparable white applicants to be admitted, while Latino applicants were 4.6 times more likely.
In its statement, UCSF said its admissions review process prioritizes academics. “Grades, prior coursework, and MCAT scores are important measures of an applicant’s readiness for a UCSF medical education,” the university said.
It said those measures are considered alongside clinical experience, research, service, leadership and other experiences. “Academic excellence has always been central to our admissions process,” the statement said.
In its 2023 decision striking down race-conscious admissions at Harvard and the University of North Carolina, the Supreme Court majority cited statistical analysis by the plaintiff’s expert witness showing that Black applicants to UNC had higher admission rates than white and Asian applicants in the same top academic tiers. The ruling did not require schools to base admissions solely on grades or test scores. They can consider individual experiences and qualities, but cannot give applicants an advantage because of their race.
The Justice Department notice to UCSF described an application process with two written stages followed by an interview. It alleged that race influenced who advanced at each step.
The department pointed to a question asking applicants to identify their race and essays about hardship and diversity. It said Black and Latino applicants received interview invitations at higher rates despite lower average MCAT scores and undergraduate grade point averages.
The notice also alleges discrimination in two UCSF programs that prepare doctors to serve medically underserved urban communities in the San Joaquin Valley. It said the programs favor applicants from racial and ethnic groups the school considers underrepresented in medicine through recruitment, separate application procedures and financial assistance.
Those categories include Black, Latino, Native American, Alaska Native and Pacific Islander students, according to the UC enrollment report cited in the notice. They also include students of Cambodian, Filipino, Hmong, Indonesian, Laotian and Vietnamese heritage.
The UCSF findings follow a series of similar accusations as the University of California comes under sustained scrutiny by the Trump administration:
- In May, the department said UCLA’s medical school had intentionally considered race in admissions for three years. The university said its selection process was “based on merit” and followed the law.
- In July, the department accused UC San Diego’s medical school of using hardship questions as a substitute for directly considering race. The school said applicants “must meet strict academic thresholds, a requirement that is and was applied uniformly to all applicants.”
- In August 2025, the government demanded a $1.2-billion settlement from UCLA over several alleged violations, including the use of race in admissions. In November, U.S. District Judge Rita Lin barred the government from imposing monetary penalties tied to those investigations or cutting UC funding without following legally required procedures.
