Justice Department Finds Yale Medical School Discriminated by Race in Admissions

WASHINGTON, May 14, 2026 — The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has completed a year-long investigation and determined that Yale School of Medicine discriminated on the basis of race in its admissions policies and practices.

The investigation examined Yale School of Medicine’s entire admissions system. The school enrolls roughly 100 students per class and receives more than 6,000 applications annually for its M.D. program. Per the department’s findings, the admissions process used racial classifications that disadvantaged certain applicants while favoring others in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The determination shifts Yale from a prior state in which it maintained race-conscious admissions policies to a new requirement that it cease those practices immediately. The Justice Department’s May 14 release states the school must revise its admissions procedures to comply with federal nondiscrimination law. No delayed effective date is specified.

The finding carries three direct operational consequences. First, Yale must submit a compliance plan to the Civil Rights Division detailing revised screening, interview and selection criteria that eliminate racial preferences. Second, continued receipt of more than $500 million in annual federal research grants and student financial aid now depends on documented adherence; the department can initiate administrative proceedings to suspend or terminate that funding for noncompliance.

Third, the precedent triggers parallel reviews by the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, which oversees medical-school accreditation standards, and may prompt other institutions to reassess similar policies to avoid their own investigations.

This marks the second major postsecondary admissions action by the Justice Department since the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which held that race-based admissions at Harvard and the University of North Carolina violated the Equal Protection Clause.

The original Yale review was opened in 2025 under the Civil Rights Division’s enforcement of Title VI, which applies the constitutional standard to recipients of federal financial assistance.

Primary sources: U.S. Department of Justice