Justice Dept. Will Investigate California Universities Over Race in Admissions

The Department of Justice said on Thursday that it would investigate whether several California universities were complying with the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision banning the consideration of race in admissions.The checks, which the Justice Department described as “compliance review investigations,” would target Stanford University and three schools in the University of California system — Berkeley, Los Angeles, and Irvine — according to an announcement released by Attorney General Pam Bondi.“President Trump and I are dedicated to ending illegal discrimination and restoring merit-based opportunity across the country,” Ms.Bondi said in a statement.It was not clear whether similar compliance reviews would be conducted at other colleges or universities across the nation.The lawsuits that were the basis for the Supreme Court decision, in the case known as Students for Fair Admissions, were filed against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.Plaintiffs in that case used statistical evidence, including standardized test scores, to support the contention that some racial groups, including Black and Hispanic students, had been given preferences in admissions.

The plaintiffs argued the practice violated the 14th Amendment.Unlike schools in most states, however, California public colleges and universities have been prohibited from using affirmative action in college admissions since Proposition 209 was adopted in 1996.Enrollment of Black and Hispanic students and other minority groups dropped precipitously in the more selective public schools in California after the proposition was enacted.Since then it has rebounded at least somewhat.

For example, Black enrollment at U.C.L.A.fell to 3.43 percent in 1998 from 7 percent before Proposition 209 was adopted.

By 2019, it had increased to 5.98 percent.(California’s population is 6.5 percent Black.)As a private school, Stanford did not fall under the Proposition 209 requirements.Sta...