The Justice Department under acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced findings Monday that the University of California San Diego School of Medicine unlawfully used race in its applications process. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
July 21 (UPI) -- The University of California San Diego School of Medicine unlawfully used race in its admissions process, favoring Black and Hispanic applicants over their White and Asian counterparts, the Justice Department said as the Trump administration cracks down on race-conscious admissions at medical schools.
According to the Justice Department's findings, which were made public Monday, the school manipulated applicant data to achieve greater racial diversity in student admissions. Federal lawyers said admissions officers used applicants' responses to questions about overcoming "hardships" to create subgroups within categories based on MCAT scores and GPAs.
The federal department said the school used this system as a "racial proxy" to increase the diversity of its student body.
"San Diego Med admission rates for Black applicants were more than double the admission rates for White applicants," the Justice Department said in its letter to the school, pointing to 2025 admissions rates, which showed that 5.14% of Black applicants were admitted compared with nearly 2% of White applicants.
