The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division announced today investigative findings that Ohio State University College of Medicine (OSU Med) discriminated against white and Asian students in granting admission to its 2023, 2024, and 2025 incoming classes. OSU Med’s discriminatory conduct violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race or color, and the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (SFFA), which banned race discrimination in admissions.
“Despite SFFA, OSU Med allows some applicants to bypass its own screening process and skip interviews solely because of the color of their skin,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “A university’s admissions process, and all its stages, should apply equally to all applicants regardless of race. The use of a separate admissions process based on race is plainly illegal under federal law, and this Department will not allow these appalling practices to continue at OSU Med or any other federally funded higher ed institution.”
OSU Med uses a “Holistic Approach” to admit more so-called “underrepresented minorities”. As part of the Holistic Approach, “screeners” score applicants across three scoring categories that have different maximum point values: Attributes (12 max), Experiences (16 max), and Metrics (8 max). OSU Med’s admissions process also includes an interview stage. The Department’s investigation found that black applicants who are screened and interviewed are about 2.8 times as likely to be admitted than Asian applicants with equal credentials.
The Department also found that OSU Med operates a “side door” to its admissions process, which allows some applicants to receive admission without (1) receiving a screener score or (2) sitting for an interview. Using this pathway, in 2024 and 2025 combined, black applicants were four times as likely to be admitted than white applicants, and no Asian applicants were admitted.
Medical schools receive substantial federal financial assistance and are subject to federal non-discrimination laws. The Department will continue to investigate their compliance with Title VI, as interpreted by SFFA’s prohibition on race-conscious admissions. Where a violation has been found, the Department will engage in settlement negotiations to ensure the school’s admissions practices are brought into compliance. If those efforts fail, the Department will file suit.
Members of the public may report possible civil rights violations at www.civilrights.justice.gov/.
Note: Read the Department’s Findings Letter here .