DOJ accuses Ohio State Medical School of racial discrimination

The U.S. Department of Justice has accused the Ohio State University College of Medicine of discriminating against White and Asian applicants during the 2023, 2024, and 2025 admissions cycles. According to findings from the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, the school’s admissions practices violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the 2023 Supreme Court ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard.

The investigation alleges that OSU Med utilized a “holistic approach” that disproportionately favored Black and Hispanic applicants. Specifically, the DOJ found that in the 2025 cycle, Black applicants with similar academic credentials had 7.7 times the odds of reaching the interview stage compared to Asian applicants and 4.6 times the odds compared to White applicants. Among those who completed the interview process, Black applicants were approximately 2.8 times more likely to be admitted than Asian applicants with equal credentials.

Furthermore, the DOJ identified a “side door” admissions process that allowed certain candidates to bypass standard screening scores and committee reviews. During the 2024 and 2025 cycles, Black applicants using this pathway were four times as likely to be admitted as White applicants with comparable credentials, while no Asian applicants were admitted through this route. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon stated that the use of a separate admissions process based on race is “plainly illegal under federal law.” The DOJ intends to seek changes through settlement negotiations or potential lawsuits.