Judge dismisses Trump administration lawsuit against Harvard over demand for admissions data
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- A federal judge dismissed the Justice Department’s lawsuit seeking five years of Harvard admissions records, ruling the agency had not followed required steps.
- The decision does not resolve whether Harvard discriminated or whether it can be compelled to provide applicant-level data on race, grades, test scores and admissions.
- The case is part of the Trump administration’s broader campaign against colleges over race-conscious admissions, including allegations involving University of California campuses.
BOSTON — A federal judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit against Harvard University over its alleged failure to provide admissions records that the Justice Department had demanded to ensure the Ivy League school stopped using affirmative action in admissions.
The Justice Department said Harvard had “thwarted” efforts to investigate potential discrimination. It accused Harvard of refusing to comply with a federal investigation and asked a judge to order the university to turn over the records.
Similarly, the department has also challenged admissions practices at several University of California campuses — including UCLA — in court and via investigative findings. The UC system and its schools have said they follow state law banning the use of race in admissions.
In the Harvard case, U.S. District Judge Myong Joun concluded that the Justice Department didn’t take the necessary procedural steps to obtain the data before filing the lawsuit. “Before taking enforcement action under the statutory framework, the agency must advise the recipient of its failure to comply and determine that compliance cannot be secured by voluntary means,” Joun wrote.
But Joun also said the ruling does not end the dispute over the data.
“I decide a limited question: whether the Government has adequately established, at this stage and on the materials properly considered, that it satisfied the prerequisites to judicial enforcement invoked in this complaint,” he wrote. “The ruling does not determine whether Harvard has discriminated, whether the agencies may lawfully seek appropriately defined applicant-level data, or whether Harvard may ultimately be required to provide such data.”
Neither Harvard nor the Department of Justice responded to a request for comment.
The effort targeting Harvard is part of a broader campaign by the Trump administration against colleges accused of considering race in admissions decisions.
In October, the Justice Department concluded that the UCLA law school illegally considered race in admissions. It announced a similar finding against the university’s medical school in May. The administration also has accused the UC Berkeley law school, and medical schools at UC San Diego, UC Davis and UC San Francisco of illegally discriminating against white and Asian applicants.
All the schools say they follow California law, which prohibits use of race in admissions.
Separately, the Trump administration has joined a lawsuit challenging UCLA’s medical school, alleging that it used race as a factor in admissions. The suit was filed by a rejected applicant as well as by the group Do No Harm — founded in 2022 to oppose “disastrous consequences of identity politics” in medicine — and Students for Fair Admissions.
In other related litigation, UC has also asked a federal judge to dismiss two lawsuits regarding alleged antisemitism at UCLA. The California-based judge has not ruled on the requests.
Tuesday’s ruling in Massachusetts is the latest setback for the Trump administration over its ongoing battle with Harvard. It has suffered defeats in the federal courts over billions of dollars in funding cuts as well as a lawsuit accusing the university of antisemitism.
Administration officials have said they’re taking action against Harvard over allegations of anti-Jewish bias on campus. Harvard officials say they’re facing unconstitutional retaliation for refusing to adopt the administration’s ideological views.
Early on in the fight over admissions data, the Justice Department in 2025 launched a compliance review into Harvard’s admissions practices. It told Harvard to hand over five years of admissions data for applicants to its undergraduate, medical and law schools.
It also asked Harvard for applicants’ grades, test scores, essays, extracurricular activities and admissions outcomes, along with their race and ethnicity.
Justice Department officials said they need the data to determine whether Harvard has continued considering applicants’ race in admissions decisions. The Supreme Court barred affirmative action in admissions in 2023 after lawsuits challenged it at Harvard and the University of North Carolina.
Casey writes for the Associated Press.
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