DOJ finds Ohio State medical school discriminated against white, Asian applicants

The U.S. Department of Justice found that The Ohio State University’s College of Medicine discriminated against white and Asian applicants in its admissions process for the incoming classes of 2023, 2024 and 2025.

The department’s Civil Rights Division announced Oct. 21 that the medical school’s admissions practices violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling prohibiting race-based college admissions.

According to the investigation, Black applicants who completed the school’s screening and interview process were approximately 2.8 times as likely to be admitted as Asian applicants with equal credentials.

Investigators also found that Ohio State operated a separate admissions pathway that allowed some applicants to be admitted without a screening score or an interview.

Through that process, Black applicants were four times as likely to be admitted as white applicants during 2024 and 2025 combined, while no Asian applicants were admitted.

“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,” Dhillon added.

The medical school uses what it calls a “Holistic Approach” to evaluate applicants, with screening scores based on attributes, experiences and academic metrics.

The system assigns applicants up to 12 points for attributes, 16 for experiences and eight for metrics. Applicants also ordinarily undergo an interview.

Ohio State disputed the findings Wednesday, maintaining that its medical school complies with federal and state admissions laws.

“Ohio State strongly disagrees with the findings,” the university said in a statement. It also said the medical school does not consider race, ethnicity or other protected characteristics when making admissions decisions and intends to contest the department’s conclusions.

The Justice Department said it would seek to resolve the violations through settlement negotiations to bring the school’s admissions practices into compliance with federal law.

If settlement efforts fail, the department said it will file a lawsuit.