The U.S. Department of Justice announced on Wednesday that its Civil Rights Division had found Ohio State University College of Medicine discriminated against white and Asian students in granting admission to its 2023, 2024 and 2025 incoming classes, in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Supreme Court's 2023 decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which banned race discrimination in admissions.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Civil Rights Division said, in the department's statement: “Despite SFFA, OSU Med allows some applicants to bypass its own screening process and skip interviews solely because of the color of their skin.” The department said its investigation found that Black applicants who are screened and interviewed are about 2.8 times as likely to be admitted as Asian applicants with equal credentials, and that screeners score applicants across three categories — Attributes, Experiences and Metrics — under what the school calls a “Holistic Approach.” Those findings are the department's; Ohio State disputes them, as set out below.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice

Ohio State University said on Wednesday it disagreed with the findings. “Ohio State strongly disagrees with the findings,” the university said in a statement reported by Reuters. It said it is in full compliance with the Supreme Court's ruling and all federal and state laws regarding admissions, that the medical school does not consider race, ethnicity or any protected class during admissions, and that it will “contest these findings.”

Source: Reuters

Reuters reported that, in a letter to the institution, the Justice Department alleged the school's admission practices aimed “to benefit preferred race classes of Black and Hispanic,” and alleged its diversity commitments showed discriminatory intent. The department said it seeks a voluntary resolution agreement and will file suit if those efforts fail.

Source: Reuters

Why this matters for Asian and diaspora applicants

The finding directly names Asian applicants — a group that includes many Indian and Punjabi-origin students applying to U.S. medical schools. The Supreme Court rejected affirmative action at colleges in 2023 when it struck down race-conscious admissions programs at Harvard and the University of North Carolina. Reuters noted the case is the latest targeting of diversity programs at universities by President Donald Trump's administration, while rights advocates say such practices address historic inequities for marginalized groups.