---
title: "Yale Seeks Settlement With Trump Administration Over Race-and-Admissions Inquiry"
description: "Yale University is seeking to negotiate a settlement with the Trump administration to end a federal inquiry into whether the school used race in admissions, choosing accommodation over the kind of public legal fight that has embroiled Harvard."
category: "U.S."
category_url: https://herald.la/category/us
author: "Simone Bishop"
published: 2026-06-27T04:38:25.000Z
updated: 2026-06-27T04:38:25.000Z
canonical: https://herald.la/article/yale-seeks-settlement-with-trump-administration-over-race-and-admissions-inquiry
tags: ["Yale University", "higher education", "affirmative action", "Justice Department", "admissions", "Trump administration"]
---
# Yale Seeks Settlement With Trump Administration Over Race-and-Admissions Inquiry

Yale University is seeking to negotiate a settlement with the Trump administration to end a federal inquiry into whether the school used race in admissions, choosing accommodation over the kind of public legal fight that has embroiled Harvard.

Yale University is pursuing a settlement with the Trump administration's Justice Department to resolve a federal investigation into its admissions practices, a move that would spare the Ivy League school the prolonged court battle that Harvard has waged with the government.

## A widening inquiry

What began as a review of Yale's medical school has expanded into an investigation spanning the university's undergraduate, law and medical admissions, [the Associated Press reported via GV Wire](https://gvwire.com/2026/06/26/yale-seeks-trump-administration-deal-as-it-faces-sprawling-investigation/). The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division has formally accused the medical school of giving "illegal preferential treatment to Black and Hispanic applicants," concluding that Yale discriminated against white and Asian candidates in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which bars racial discrimination at institutions that receive federal funds.

As evidence, the department pointed to admissions data for recent classes. [According to Higher Ed Dive](https://www.highereddive.com/news/doj-alleges-yales-medical-school-discriminates-against-applicants/820316/), the DOJ's analysis of the incoming class of 2025 found median MCAT scores of 518 for admitted Black applicants and 517 for Hispanic applicants, compared with 524 for both white and Asian applicants. The department said it believed the practices, which it traced across the classes of 2023 through 2025, were ongoing.

Yale has not engaged the specific allegations. A spokesperson for the medical school said it was "confident in the rigorous admissions process we follow" and that admitted students show "exceptional academic achievement and personal commitment."

## A bid to settle rather than fight

Rather than contest the findings publicly, Yale has moved toward a negotiated resolution covering all three schools under review, the AP reported. The university retained McGuireWoods, the law firm that guided the University of Virginia to a settlement that carried no financial penalties.

That approach contrasts sharply with Harvard, which has resisted the administration's demands and remains locked in litigation, and with a group of schools — including Columbia, Cornell, Northwestern, Penn and Brown — that reached settlements after the government moved to cut or freeze their federal research funding.

## The post-2023 backdrop

The inquiry follows the Supreme Court's June 2023 decision in *Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard*, which struck down race-conscious admissions nationwide. The ruling left room for universities to weigh how race has shaped an individual applicant's experience, but the Trump administration has interpreted it expansively, arguing that even indirect consideration of race — or facially neutral criteria that produce racially skewed results — can amount to unlawful discrimination.

Supporters of the administration's campaign say it is enforcing the plain meaning of the court's ruling and ensuring applicants are judged without regard to race. Critics counter that the effort pressures universities to abandon lawful efforts at building diverse classes and uses federal funding as leverage to force compliance. Yale's medical school inquiry is one of more than a dozen similar federal probes into medical schools nationwide, among them the University of California, Los Angeles.

## Funding leverage

Yale has so far avoided the funding cuts wielded against other institutions, but as a major recipient of federal research dollars it remains exposed should talks falter. Whether its settlement bid succeeds — and on what terms — is likely to be watched closely by peer universities weighing how to respond to the same pressure.

## Sources

- [Yale seeks Trump administration deal as it faces sprawling investigation](https://gvwire.com/2026/06/26/yale-seeks-trump-administration-deal-as-it-faces-sprawling-investigation/)
- [DOJ alleges Yale's medical school discriminates against applicants](https://www.highereddive.com/news/doj-alleges-yales-medical-school-discriminates-against-applicants/820316/)