US DOJ Sues UCLA Medical School for Admitting Unqualified Minority Candidates Over Qualified Whites and Asians

The U.S. Department of Justice has intervened in a federal lawsuit accusing the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) of using race as a factor in its admissions process, in violation of federal civil rights laws and California's long-standing ban on affirmative action.In a statement released on January 28, 2026, the Justice Department announced it was joining the existing class-action suit originally filed in May 2025 by Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA), the advocacy group Do No Harm, and an individual plaintiff.

The lawsuit alleges that UCLA's medical school has continued to employ race-based preferences or proxies in admissions decisions, despite the U.S. Supreme Court's 2023 ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard that outlawed the consideration of race in college and university admissions, and California's Proposition 209, which prohibited race-based preferences in public education since 1996.

The complaint claims that UCLA Geffen admissions officials, including Associate Dean Jennifer Lucero, implemented practices under an "Anti-Racism Roadmap" starting around 2020 that effectively lowered academic thresholds for Black and Latino applicants while holding Asian and white applicants to higher standards. Plaintiffs argue these measures were designed to achieve racial balance in incoming classes, including through "holistic" reviews that incorporated race or racial proxies, followed by confirmation during interviews.

Whistleblower reports and investigative articles - including coverage by the Washington Free Beacon in 2024 and 2025 - have alleged that such policies contributed to a significant decline in student performance metrics at the school, with up to half of recent students reportedly failing basic competency exams.

UCLA officials have previously denied the allegations, maintaining that the school's admissions comply with all applicable laws and that diversity efforts do not involve impermissible racial considerations. The university has resisted some public records requests for detailed admissions data, though discovery in the lawsuit is expected to compel further disclosure.

The Justice Department's intervention marks a significant escalation in federal enforcement following the 2023 Supreme Court decision. Officials cited the ruling's emphasis that "eliminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it" and indicated the move aligns with broader efforts to hold institutions accountable, including through potential use of the False Claims Act in cases involving federal funding.The case, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, is ongoing and could set precedents for how medical schools nationwide interpret post-2023 restrictions on race-conscious policies. No trial date has been set.