The University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine discriminates against White and Asian applicants in favor of their Black and Hispanic counterparts, the Justice Department said amid the Trump administration's efforts to eradicate diversity, equity and inclusion policies at institutions of higher learning.  This is unconstitutional.

     The Justice Department has launched investigations into some of the nation's leading medical and law schools to determine compliance with a 2023 U.S. Supreme Court decision that restricted race-conscious admissions practices.    In its findings released concerning UCSF Medical School, federal lawyers alleged that prompting applicants to identify their race in the first two stages of the application process resulted in Black and Hispanic applicants being invited to the third and final interview stage at higher rates than White and Asian applicants with better MCAT scores and undergraduate grade point averages.

     The report states that this was the case for the 2023 through 2025 incoming classes. During this period, UCSF Medical School was 4.6 times more likely to admit Hispanic applicants and 12.6 times more likely to admit Black applicants compared to White applicants with the same MCAT score, GPA and socioeconomic characteristics.   "Unfortunately, at UCSF Medical School, MCAT scores and undergraduate GPAs have taken a backseat to race," Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division said in a statement.

     "Aspiring doctors should be admitted based on their qualifications. The Supreme Court has spoken clearly -- federally funded medical schools may not admit students based on misguided and illegal notions of diversity."  UCSF told UPI in an emailed statement disagrees with the department's findings, arguing that its medical school "is among the most elective in the country."  "Every applicant is evaluated through a rigorous, individualized review process that prioritizes academic excellence," the school said.

     "Academic achievement is fundamental to that review. Grades, prior coursework and MCAT scores are important measures of an applicant's readiness for a UCSF medical education. Those measures are consider alongside other factors, including clinical experience, research, service, leadership and other experiences to identify future physicians who will excel in patient care, biomedical discovery and service to communities across the country.