The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division announced on October 1, 2026 that the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law discriminated against white and Asian applicants for its 2023, 2024, and 2025 incoming classes. In an eight-page findings letter (PDF File), Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon wrote that the school violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as interpreted by the Supreme Court’s 2023 Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard decision.
In a statement, UCLA Law School denied the allegations: “Students are admitted through a comprehensive, merit-based review process that considers each applicant’s achievements and experiences. We are confident in our process.”
UCLA Law joins a growing list of graduate programs cited by the department, including UCLA’s medical school in May and the UC Davis School of Medicine.
Why It Matters
The Justice Department reviewed seven years of applicant-level data from 2019 through 2025. For the 2025 class, Black applicants had roughly seven times the odds of admission compared with otherwise equivalent white applicants, and Hispanic applicants had roughly twice the odds, according to the findings letter.
The median LSAT score for admitted white applicants that year was 172, compared with 168 for admitted Black applicants, and DOJ says 168 was also the median for white and Asian applicants UCLA Law rejected.
What The Letter Alleges
- Assistant Dean of Admissions Robert Schwartz told a prospective applicant in June 2023 that “any changes in the law announced by the Supreme Court will not change anything at UCLA Law,” pointing to the school’s existing compliance with California’s Proposition 209.
- At a November 2023 “Diversity Admissions Open House,” an assistant director showed attendees how to reveal their race through essay prompts and diversity statements.
- An August 2023 University of California guidance document described “placing additional weight” on factors such as income level and “disadvantages overcome,” which DOJ characterizes as racial proxies.
- Median LSAT scores for admitted Black applicants ran 5 to 7 points below those of admitted white applicants every year from 2019 to 2024.
How This Connects
The DOJ issued similar findings against Duke’s law school on August 6 and UC Berkeley’s law school on September 9, along with medical schools at Yale, George Washington University, UC San Diego, and UC San Francisco, according to a running tally of DOJ admissions findings.
The enforcement push builds on the Education Department’s earlier warnings to 60 universities over discrimination.
What’s Next
The department says it wants a voluntary resolution agreement with the university but will file suit if negotiations fail. The letter notes UCLA currently holds $1,992,200 in active DOJ grants, and federal law allows agencies to pursue enforcement when Title VI compliance can’t be secured voluntarily.
Law school applicants applying for fall 2027 should watch for changes to UCLA Law’s essay prompts and track how the new graduate loan limits work before committing to any school.
Robert Farrington is the founder of The College Investor and is widely recognized as one of the nation’s leading voices on student loan debt and saving for college. He holds an MBA from UC San Diego Rady School of Management and has spent over 15 years researching, writing, and advising on student loans, 529 plans, financial aid programs, and saving and investing for young professionals.
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