Stanford, University of California Admissions Targeted by Bondi

US Attorney General Pam Bondi announced an investigation into admissions practices at four California universities, including Stanford and the University of California at Los Angeles, in the Trump administration’s latest salvo against higher-education institutions.

The “compliance review investigation” will examine student admissions practices at three University of California campuses — Berkeley, Los Angeles, and Irvine — along with Stanford to make sure the schools are following a 2023 Supreme Court decision that effectively barred universities from considering race in their admissions process.

“President Trump and I are dedicated to ending illegal discrimination and restoring merit-based opportunity across the country,” Bondi said in a statement. “Every student in America deserves to be judged solely based on their hard work, intellect, and character, not the color of their skin.”

California has banned using race as a factor in admissions for state-funded schools since 1996. The UC system has said it complies with the law, while also providing upward mobility for lower-income and first-generation college students, many of them Latino and Black. A representative for the system didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Stanford, which previously supported race-conscious admissions, said in a statement Thursday that it immediately took steps to ensure compliance with the Supreme Court ruling and that it would respond to the Department of Justice’s questions.

“We continue to be committed to fulfilling our obligations under the law,” said Dee Mostofi, a spokeswoman for the school.

The Trump administration has unleashed a flurry of attacks on elite universities, as well as on programs targeted at diversity, equity and inclusion. Universities face possible budget cuts after the administration slashed billions of dollars in funding from the National Institutes of Health, which is being contested in court. The administration also froze $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia University, which later took steps to meet White House demands, and sought to deport foreign students who expressed pro-Palestinian views.

Read more: University of Michigan Scraps DEI Program Amid Trump Pressure

The Justice Department has also opened a separate probe into the UC system over allegations of antisemitism on campus. The system announced a hiring freeze last week amid worries of federal and state budget cuts.

--With assistance from Janet Lorin.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Eliyahu Kamisher in San Francisco at ekamisher@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Pierre Paulden at ppaulden@bloomberg.net

Kara Wetzel

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