On Thursday, June 4, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division announced fifteen new investigations into potential race discrimination in medical school admissions.

The probes follow the division’s recent findings that the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and Yale University both illegally used race in their medical school admissions processes.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon stated, “Many of America’s top medical schools appear more concerned about the demographics of their incoming classes than training students to succeed in the profession.”

The investigations target institutions receiving millions of dollars in federal taxpayer funding and are conducted under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. The Department emphasized these probes aim to ensure students become doctors based on merit rather than race.

Each investigation will evaluate compliance with the U.S. Supreme Court’s interpretation of Title VI, as established in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard College (2023). The Civil Rights Division has clarified it has not reached conclusions about the investigations and is conducting them as probes, not verdicts.

The Department noted medical schools had previously been warned by the HHS Office for Civil Rights about prohibited race-based practices in admissions, including racial stereotypes and facially neutral criteria operating as proxies for race. This enforcement action follows the Supreme Court’s ruling that Harvard and University of North Carolina’s admissions programs violated equal protection principles.