Berkeley rejects accusation, says admissions follow federal law
The Justice Department made findings public Wednesday accusing UC Berkeley School of Law of violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by discriminating against White and Asian applicants when selecting its incoming classes of 2024 and 2025. UC Berkeley rejected the accusation and said its admissions comply with federal law.
The department cited admissions outcomes as evidence that race affected Berkeley Law’s decisions. It said Black applicants had 5.8 times greater odds of admission than comparable White applicants in 2025.
For the 2024 and 2025 admissions cycles combined, the department said half of admitted Black applicants had LSAT scores below those of 95% of admitted White applicants. More than one-third of admitted Black applicants scored below 99% of admitted White applicants, the department said, while the median LSAT score for admitted Black applicants was about five points lower than for admitted White or Asian applicants.
Berkeley said it would “spare no effort to provide ample evidence showing that the university complies with all relevant laws, policies and rules governing admissions.”
“Berkeley is committed to ensuring that every student is admitted based on their merit, and not on their race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin,” the university said.
The Justice Department also focused on Berkeley Law’s application materials. Its report said the school used essays as a “backdoor” to solicit racial demographics by asking applicants how they would contribute to the “diversity in our classrooms and community.”
The report cited a separate form that asked applicants to indicate their primary identity if they would feel more supported when grouped with students who shared the same background.
The department accused Berkeley Law of deliberately trying to circumvent the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling restricting race-conscious admissions practices at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina. It is seeking a voluntary resolution agreement with UC Berkeley to ensure that the university brings its admissions practices into legal compliance.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said Berkeley Law’s actions demonstrated “a complete disregard for the rule of law.”
“The department will continue to aggressively pursue compliance from schools who attempt to racially manipulate their student bodies in violation of federal law,” Dhillon said in a statement.
The Justice Department began its compliance review of UC Berkeley on March 27, 2025, and expanded the review to Berkeley Law on April 18. The Berkeley finding brought the number of university professional schools with announced findings to seven.
The other six schools are UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, UC Davis School of Medicine, UC San Diego School of Medicine, Duke University School of Law and George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences.
The Trump administration has launched more than two dozen investigations into admissions practices at some of the nation’s leading universities, medical schools and law schools. The investigations’ legal foundation is the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling restricting race-conscious admissions practices at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina.
The investigations were launched under President Donald Trump’s January 21, 2025, executive order aimed at “ending illegal discrimination and restoring merit-based opportunity.” The order was one of several White House directives opposing diversity, equity and inclusion policies.