WESTWOOD, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The Department of Justice says it has evidence that UCLA's medical school illegally considered race in its admissions process. Now, questions are being raised on how this could impact the school's federal funding.

The DOJ is accusing UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine of discrimination. The department says it conducted a year-long investigation and found evidence that UCLA's leadership accepted applicants to the medical school based on their race, claiming the school adhered to what it calls the "dubious contention that patients receive the best care when treated by a doctor of the same race, rather than by the most qualified."

"We learned that UCLA medical school was improperly and illegally using race as a consideration in their admissions process," said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli. "This is an extension of these DEI policies that we've been saying are unconstitutional. The Supreme Court has ruled on this. There was a big case about Harvard admissions."

The DOJ says the investigation found that UCLA's medical school specifically discriminated against white and Asian American students by favoring Black and Hispanic applicants.

As part of its evidence, the department cited data showing admitted students who were Black or Hispanic had lower average grade-point averages and test scores in 2023 and 2024. Among Black students admitted in 2024, the average GPA was 3.72, for example, compared with 3.84 for Asian Americans and 3.83 for white students.

The department says that's evidence that the medical school was using non-academic factors to achieve diversity goals.

Civil rights attorneys are criticizing the DOJ's claims.

"Well, this is just the latest battlefront, if you will, on the Supreme Court and the Department of Justice dismantling, if you will, opportunities for racial minorities in this country to participate, be it in schools of higher education or even in the economic sphere in terms of jobs, and careers and employment," said attorney Adante Pointer.

Essayli cited a Supreme Court decision against Harvard's admissions policies.

"You cannot be racist in admissions. Race cannot be used as a reason why you are admitting or not admitting a student at UCLA. We are not going to put up with it," Essayli said.

"So what you're seeing is a political agenda playing out in real time. It has its aim focused on UCLA," Pointer said.

The DOJ also took issue with an application document inviting students to volunteer whether they are part of a marginalized group and, if so, to discuss its impact. The question was included in the application process in 2024 and 2025, the department said.

Essayli said the DOJ plans to sue UCLA over its findings.

In a statement, UCLA said:

"The admissions process at David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA is based on merit and grounded in a rigorous, comprehensive review of each applicant. We are confident in our practices and our mission to maintain access to a high-quality education to all qualified students.

We are carefully reviewing the Department of Justice's report. The David Geffen School of Medicine is committed to providing equal opportunity to all applicants and fully complying with federal and state laws."

The DOJ's investigation comes as the Trump administration ramps up scrutiny of colleges' processes for selecting students.

The finding escalates the Trump administration's ongoing standoff with UCLA, which has focused mostly on the main campus's response to allegations of antisemitic harassment.

READ MORE: Justice Department lawsuit says UCLA failed to protect Jewish employees from hostility

The lawsuit is the latest escalation in the Trump administration's campaign to punish top universities that it says have been soft on antisemitism.

Affirmative action in college admissions has been illegal since a 2023 Supreme Court ruling forbade it. The same ruling said colleges could continue to assess how applicants' backgrounds might speak to broader characteristics, but Trump has accused colleges of using applicants' personal statements and other proxies to consider race in admissions, which conservatives view as illegal discrimination.

In March, the DOJ opened investigations into possible race-based discrimination in medical school admissions at Stanford, Ohio State and the University of California, San Diego. The Trump administration previously targeted undergraduate admissions at selective colleges, demanding they collect data to show they are complying with the Supreme Court ruling.

California voters ended affirmative action in college admissions in a 1997 ballot measure. In a brief filed in the Supreme Court case, the UC system said the change led to a precipitous drop in underrepresented minorities, especially at the system's most selective campuses.

The brief said UC went on to implement "numerous and wide-ranging race-neutral measures designed to increase diversity of all sorts, including racial diversity." Even so, the system said it had struggled to increase campus diversity.

The Trump administration's finding sets the stage for a voluntary resolution to bring UCLA into compliance with the DOJ's legal interpretation or, if none can be reached, potential legal action. Penalties could include a loss of federal funding.

In March, a coalition of 17 Democratic state attorneys general filed a lawsuit challenging a Trump administration policy that requires higher education institutions to collect data showing they aren't considering race in admissions.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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