The U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division announced on Wednesday that Ohio State University's College of Medicine used a discriminatory admissions process for its 2023, 2024 and 2025 classes, favoring Black applicants by a margin of 2.8 times over equally qualified Asian applicants.
The investigation revealed that Black candidates who completed the standard screening and interview stages were more likely to be admitted than Asian candidates with comparable credentials, a finding that violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said the medical school’s use of a separate “holistic approach” to admit underrepresented minorities, which sometimes bypassed screening scores or interviews, constituted illegal race‑based preference.
Dhillon added, “A university’s admissions process must apply equally to all applicants regardless of race.” The school’s holistic system awarded up to 12 points for attributes, 16 for experiences, and 8 for metrics, but the investigation found that the separate pathway allowed some candidates to be admitted without completing any of these stages.
The Department will seek changes through settlement negotiations, and will bring lawsuits if the medical school fails to comply.
The findings underscore the university’s obligation under federal law to provide equitable admissions for all applicants, and the Department plans to continue monitoring compliance in future admissions cycles.