DOJ, Education Department accuse Berkeley Law of admissions bias
The Justice Department and Education Department said Sept. 9 that a joint investigation found UC Berkeley School of Law discriminated against white and Asian applicants in admissions for its 2024 and 2025 entering classes.
The agencies’ action is a findings letter and a proposed voluntary-resolution process—not a court judgment, filed lawsuit or announced settlement. DOJ said Berkeley Law could face litigation if the school does not agree to corrective steps.
What federal investigators alleged
DOJ’s Civil Rights Division said Berkeley Law used race-related questions and information in its application process. The findings letter cites prompts asking how an applicant’s perspective or identity would contribute to diversity and asking applicants to identify a primary identity.
The letter also alleges that the school used other racial proxies and admissions practices that conflicted with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard.
The agencies said the review concerned Berkeley Law’s 2024 and 2025 incoming classes and that the alleged conduct was ongoing. DOJ began a broader compliance review in March 2025 and expanded it to Berkeley Law in April 2025.
What the agencies’ analysis found
According to the findings letter, investigators analyzed applicant-level data provided by Berkeley Law, including LSAT scores, undergraduate grade-point averages and race.
DOJ reported that Black applicants had 5.8 times the admission odds of comparable white applicants in 2025 and 6.5 times the odds in 2024. The agency also cited differences in median LSAT scores among admitted students.
Those figures are the agencies’ statistical interpretation of Berkeley-provided data. The LSAT comparisons alone do not establish discrimination; DOJ said its analysis also accounted for undergraduate GPA and race. The agencies’ conclusions remain disputed and have not been tested in court.
Why Title VI is central
Berkeley receives federal financial assistance, which allows federal agencies to investigate whether its programs comply with Title VI. DOJ said the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling bars racial preferences in admissions and limits how schools may consider race-related information.
The dispute involves a difficult boundary for colleges and applicants: Schools may ask about personal experiences, but federal investigators are examining whether Berkeley Law’s prompts and related information effectively allowed race to influence admissions decisions.
Berkeley disputes the allegations
Berkeley Law has disputed the federal allegations. Dean Erwin Chemerinsky said the school complies with federal law and California’s Proposition 209, which bars the state from granting preferential treatment based on race in public education.
The reviewed reports did not establish the school’s full evidentiary response to the findings letter. Berkeley’s position is therefore presented as a dispute over the agencies’ conclusions, not as a resolved factual finding.
What happens next
DOJ said the agencies are seeking a voluntary resolution agreement with Berkeley. No agreement had been announced in the reviewed sources as of Sept. 14, 2026.
If negotiations fail, DOJ said it could pursue enforcement under Title VI, including litigation. The immediate change for prospective applicants is increased federal scrutiny—not a publicly announced overhaul of Berkeley Law’s current 2026-27 application process.
The next material development will be whether Berkeley and the agencies reach a voluntary resolution. The case could also help define how the federal government interprets the Supreme Court’s admissions ruling when schools use essays, identity information or other race-related material.
Sources
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