The Department of Justice has formally accused the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law of illegally using race in its admissions process.
Federal officials allege the school discriminated against white and Asian applicants in favor of Black and Hispanic students across multiple admissions cycles.
The Trump administration has leveled similar allegations against UCLA’s medical school and the law schools at Duke University and the University of California, Berkeley.
The DOJ’s analysis found UCLA Law rejected white and Asian applicants who had the same LSAT scores as Black and Hispanic students admitted for incoming classes in 2023, 2024, and 2025.
In addition, the DOJ found that half of all admitted Black applicants had LSAT scores at or below 90 percent of admitted white applicants in 2024 and 2025 combined.
Federal investigators also found that UCLA Law’s application includes personal statements and essay prompts designed to extract information about an applicant’s racial background.
UCLA Law admissions staff allegedly told prospective applicants how to reveal their race in application sections during race-based recruitment efforts, according to the DOJ’s findings.
Harmeet K. Dhillon, the assistant attorney general of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, stated: “Like many of its peer institutions, UCLA Law School runs a two-tiered admissions system whose academic bar for acceptance shifts up or down depending on the color of your skin.”
“The use of race as a thumb on the scale that helps or disadvantages any student is illegal,” Dhillon continued, adding that the department would keep enforcing equal treatment under the law in the nation’s law schools.
The alleged conduct violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race or color, and the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard.
The Civil Rights Division demanded in its letter that UCLA bring its admissions practices into compliance with federal law or face a federal lawsuit.
UCLA Law disputed the accusations in a statement, saying the school was “committed to making admissions decisions in compliance with all applicable laws.”
The school added that “students are admitted through a comprehensive, merit-based review process that considers each applicant’s achievements and experiences,” and expressed confidence in its process.
The Supreme Court’s 2023 affirmative action decision significantly limited the role of race in college and university admissions across the country.
