Federal agencies seek admissions-policy agreement with UC Berkeley Law over alleged racial disparities

The Tilt · Friday, 11 September 2026

Why it matters

This is a concrete federal effort to change how a major public law school treats comparable applicants, using race-linked admissions outcomes and application design as the basis for proposed enforcement. It remains an agency finding and settlement demand—not a court judgment—and Berkeley’s denial is a material counterposition.

What happened

The Justice Department and Education Department announced that a joint investigation concluded that UC Berkeley Law’s admissions process unlawfully favored Black applicants over white and Asian applicants, citing application prompts and five years of admissions data. The agencies said that, among applicants with similar qualifications, Black applicants had 6.5 times the admission odds of comparable white applicants in 2024 and 5.8 times the odds in 2025; the 2025 median LSAT score was 167 for Black admits versus 172 for white and Asian admits. The departments are seeking a negotiated resolution and said they will sue if Berkeley does not agree; Dean Erwin Chemerinsky said the school does not consider race in admissions and complies with federal law and California’s Proposition 209.

Previously

  1. 2023 — The US Supreme Court struck down race-conscious admissions programs at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina while allowing applicants to discuss how race shaped their lives when tied to an individual quality or ability.(US Supreme Court via Berkeleyside)

Players & places

  • United States
  • US Department of Justice
  • US Department of Education
  • UC Berkeley School of Law
  • Erwin Chemerinsky

Sources

Federal agencies seek admissions-policy agreement with UC Berkeley Law over alleged racial disparities