The Justice Department has accused Duke University’s law school of considering race in its admissions process. This comes as part of a broader action by the Trump administration against higher education institutions. The department claims Duke’s admissions process, while outwardly race-neutral, uses factors like personal essays and first-generation college status as proxies for race.
Duke, located in Durham, North Carolina, stated it is reviewing the Justice Department’s letter and remains committed to legal compliance aligned with its academic mission.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon emphasized that Duke Law can’t discriminate based on race under the guise of promoting diversity. The use of diversity essays to favor certain racial groups is considered unlawful discrimination, according to Dhillon.
Affirmative action in college admissions was deemed illegal based on a Supreme Court ruling in 2023. The ruling allows for evaluating how applicants’ backgrounds reflect broader characteristics but disallows using it as a proxy for race. The Trump administration accuses universities of bypassing this ruling to maintain diversity, which conservatives argue is discriminatory.
Similar cases have been found at other institutions. The Justice Department earlier found racial considerations in admissions at medical schools including UCLA and Yale University. In June, it began investigating 15 other medical schools.
The administration has also focused on undergraduate admissions, requiring selective colleges to provide data showing their compliance with the Supreme Court ruling.
Against Duke Law, the Justice Department highlighted that Black or Latino applicants had a higher admission rate than their white or Asian counterparts with similar credentials. It was noted that rejected white and Asian applicants in 2024 and 2025 had higher median test scores than admitted Black applicants.
Currently, the department aims to settle the issue with Duke Law School.
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