On October 21, 2026, the Justice Department announced it found Ohio State University's College of Medicine violated Title VI and the Supreme Court's 2023 admissions ruling. DOJ says the school operated a secondary admissions pathway that bypassed its standard screener score and interview — and Black applicants were four times more likely to gain admission through it than white applicants. No Asian applicants were admitted through it at all. Ohio State disputes the findings and says it will fight them.

What the DOJ Found

The Justice Department opened a civil rights compliance investigation into Ohio State's College of Medicine in March 2026 and released its findings on October 21. The review covered entering classes from 2023 through 2025 — every class admitted after the Supreme Court's Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard ruling banned race-conscious admissions.

The core allegation is specific. DOJ says Ohio State did not simply weigh race more heavily inside its normal review process. It says the school maintained a secondary pathway that let certain applicants get admitted without receiving a screener score or sitting for an interview — the two standard gatekeeping steps Ohio State uses for everyone else.1

According to DOJ findings, in the 2024 and 2025 admission cycles:

  • Black applicants were four times as likely as white applicants to be admitted through this secondary pathway
  • Zero Asian applicants were admitted through it
  • Black applicants who reached the standard screening stage were approximately 2.8 times as likely to be admitted as Asian applicants with matching qualifications2

The "Race Proxy" Allegation

DOJ also alleges that Ohio State used a scoring instrument called the Davis Socioeconomic Scale — a tool developed at the University of California, Davis — in a way the department considers a proxy for race. In plain language: DOJ is saying the school used an apparently race-neutral scale that in practice functioned as a stand-in for racial preferences.3

This matters because it means the investigation is not just about one pathway or one admissions cycle. It's about whether the entire framework Ohio State built after SFFA still encodes race at the structural level.

Ohio State Disagrees — and Faces a Deadline

Ohio State pushed back quickly after the findings came out. A university spokesperson said the school is "in full compliance with the Supreme Court's ruling and all federal and state laws and regulations regarding admissions" and that it will contest the DOJ's characterization.2

The school has not signed a voluntary resolution agreement with DOJ. Under DOJ enforcement process, if no agreement is reached, the department can pursue litigation — which would be more public, take longer to resolve, and could set precedent affecting how post-SFFA "holistic" review is defined nationwide.

If you're applying to Ohio State College of Medicine: Admissions are not paused during this dispute. OSU is still accepting applications and says its process is lawful. But the path forward — whether a negotiated agreement or litigation — will almost certainly change how the school admits students in the next one to two cycles. Apply as you normally would, but don't build a strategy that depends on one school's process remaining stable.

This Is Part of a Larger Pattern

Ohio State is the third major institution the DOJ has targeted over post-SFFA admissions practices in 2026. Earlier this year, the department made similar findings against Yale Medical School and Berkeley Law. In October, UNC-Chapel Hill reached a settlement ending 19 separate federal probes.

The pattern is enforcement by accumulation. The DOJ is not picking high-profile cases at random — it's working through medical and law schools systematically, building a body of findings about what "post-SFFA compliance" actually requires. More schools are almost certainly under review that have not yet been named publicly.

DOJ findings do not retroactively void admissions decisions or affect current students. But if you're planning to apply to medical school, the safest assumption is that post-SFFA rules are being strictly enforced and that schools with unresolved DOJ investigations may change their processes mid-cycle. Apply to a realistic range of schools, not a list built around one institution's specific process.

What to Do If You're Applying Pre-Med

  1. Understand the Ohio State situation is ongoing. The investigation is not resolved. Whether OSU enters a voluntary agreement or fights through the courts, its admissions process will likely look different in the 2027 cycle than it does today.

  2. Build a realistic med school list. Our guide on how to get into graduate school covers how to structure your application strategy when institutional policies are in flux.

  3. Know what's actually allowed post-SFFA. Many schools are still adjusting. See what colleges look for in applicants for a clear breakdown of legitimate review factors versus what the Supreme Court ruled out.

  4. Check the Ohio State undergrad admissions guide. Our Ohio State admissions profile covers undergraduate admissions — a separate process from the College of Medicine but useful context for students considering OSU as a pre-med pipeline.

  5. Watch for more DOJ cases. Given the pattern — Yale, Berkeley, Ohio State — the enforcement push is not slowing down. Subscribe to updates or check back here as more schools are named.

Footnotes

  1. UPI. (2026, October 21). DOJ accuses OSU Med of discriminating against White, Asian applicants. https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/10/21/justice-department-Ohio-State-University-discrimination/1961792632842 ↩

  2. The Hill. (2026, October). Ohio State disputes medical school admissions discrimination finding. https://thehill.com/homenews/education/6165205-ohio-state-medical-school-doj-racial-admissions/ ↩ ↩2

  3. Inside Higher Ed. (2026, October 22). OSU College of Medicine Discriminated, DOJ Claims. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2026/10/22/osu-college-medicine-discriminated-doj-claims ↩