The Trump administration is expanding its civil rights crackdown on university diversity practices, launching new investigations into medical school admissions at Stanford (Calif.) University, Columbus-based Ohio State University and the University of California San Diego.
The Justice Department is demanding seven years of applicant data from the three schools, including test scores, ZIP codes, legacy ties and internal communications related to diversity, equity and inclusion, according to documents reviewed by The New York Times and NBC affiliate WCMH. The move signals a broader effort to scrutinize race-conscious policies in higher education, particularly in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision ending affirmative action.
The latest investigations come days after the administration filed a lawsuit against Cambridge, Mass.-based Harvard University, accusing the school of failing to protect Jewish and Israeli students amid campus protests. The case follows months of funding cuts, court battles and public disputes, with Harvard emerging as a high-profile flashpoint in the administration’s campaign to reshape academia.
The new round of probes was publicly signaled when Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon posted a photo March 26 on X of herself signing one of the letters, stating she was “launching a series of civil rights investigations.”
Here are four things to know about the latest federal inquiries:
1. On March 25, the Justice Department notified the Stanford, Ohio State and UC San Diego medical schools that it is launching civil rights investigations into their admissions practices. The department is seeking detailed data from all applicants from 2019 through 2026, according to a letter sent to Ohio State and obtained by WCMH. That includes 31 data points per applicant and internal policies or communications related to the use of race in admissions.
2. The investigations stem from the department’s authority to monitor compliance with federal civil rights law. In the letters, Ms. Dhillon wrote that the reviews are focused on “possible race discrimination in medical school admissions.” The data request does not appear to have been prompted by a complaint but initiated under civil rights enforcement authority.
3. The Justice Department warned that failure to comply could jeopardize federal research funding. Stanford received $575 million in NIH grants in 2025, UC San Diego received $427 million and Ohio State received $210 million, according to the Times.
4. While earlier scrutiny focused on undergraduate institutions such as Harvard’s, this marks one of the first coordinated investigations targeting medical schools. The inquiries were not prompted by formal complaints, signaling a more aggressive federal approach to higher education policy. In Ohio State’s case, it follows two other federal investigations into its diversity practices in the past year. The Justice Department gave the school until April 24 to submit the requested data and materials.
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