The Department of Justice said George Washington University violated civil rights law and the 2023 Supreme Court decision barring the consideration of race in admissions.
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The Department of Justice has found that George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Services intentionally discriminated against white and Asian students in admissions by admitting Black and Hispanic students with lower standardized test scores in 2024 and 2025, according to a news release.
In the announcement, the DOJ said GWU’s medical school also used essay questions “that were designed to elicit information about an applicant’s race or ethnicity” and then used that information to decide which candidates to interview.
“As a result of GW Med’s admissions practices, Black applicants had a significantly higher probability of being selected for an interview, and received disproportionately higher interview scores, than comparable Asian applicants,” the DOJ wrote in the release.
Katelyn Deckelbaum, a GWU spokesperson, said in an email that the university is reviewing the letter it received from the DOJ.
“We are disappointed by the DOJ’s conclusions, which we believe are incorrect,” Deckelbaum wrote. “Our School of Medicine and Health Sciences admissions process fully complies with the law. The university remains steadfastly committed to non-discrimination and Title VI compliance while advancing our academic missions and excellence in preparing health care leaders.”
The finding is the latest in the DOJ’s series of investigations into admissions practices at medical schools, which has now reached 26 institutions. The DOJ has announced findings of illegal racial discrimination at three University of California medical schools—Davis, Los Angeles and San Diego—and Yale University. The scrutiny of medical school admissions began earlier this year, when the Department of Education and the DOJ demanded admissions data from three top medical schools.
When the DOJ announced in July that it was adding five colleges to the list, the news release said the investigations would “advance President Trump’s mission to eliminate racial discrimination in medical school admissions processes across the country.”
