A Justice Department investigation has found the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn., violated federal law by intentionally discriminating based on race in admissions.
Five things to know:
1. The investigation by the department’s civil rights division found that Black and Hispanic applicants were admitted with consistently lower median MCAT scores and GPAs than their White and Asian counterparts in the incoming classes of 2023, 2024 and 2025, according to a May 14 letter of findings signed by Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon.
“Based on our preliminary review of the applicant-level data, Yale’s use of race resulted in a Black applicant being as much as 29 times higher odds of getting an interview for admission than an equally strong Asian applicant with similar academic credentials,” the letter states.
The Justice Department claimed Yale violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and continued to do so after the Supreme Court ruled in 2023 that colleges and universities cannot consider race as a factor in admissions.
2. The government also said Yale’s documents show its leadership intentionally selected applicants based on race and studied how to use racial proxies to circumvent the prohibition on race-based admissions. This included reviewing how peer institutions in states with existing bans on race-based admissions used adjustments like factors to socioeconomic status to maintain or increase underrepresented-minority enrollment, according to the letter of findings.
3. The department is seeking to enter into a voluntary resolution agreement with the university to ensure its admissions practices comply with the law, the letter said.
4. A Yale spokesperson shared the following statement with Becker’s May 14:
“The students admitted to Yale School of Medicine demonstrate exceptional academic achievement and personal commitment; its program of medical education encourages curiosity and critical thinking, and its graduates go on to become leaders in clinical care, research, and public service,” the spokesperson said. “We will carefully review the Department of Justice’s letter. Yale School of Medicine is confident in the rigorous admissions process we follow.”
The Yale School of Medicine enrolls 546 students in its MD program, according to its website.
5. The department made similar findings May 6 against the University of California Los Angeles’ David Geffen School of Medicine and has launched similar investigations at Stanford (Calif.) University, Columbus-based Ohio State University and the University of California San Diego.
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 6:51 a.m. Central time on May 15 to include a statement from Yale.
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