HHS' Office for Civil Rights Launches Compliance Reviews of Five Medical Schools for Potential Title VI and Section 1557 Violations

Joint Effort with the Justice Department and Department of Education Advances President Trump’s Mission to End Racial Discrimination in Medical School Admissions

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) today announced it has opened compliance reviews of five medical schools to determine if their practices violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI) and Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (Section 1557). Both laws prohibit discrimination based on race, color, or national origin by institutions that receive federal financial assistance.

These reviews are part of OCR’s Merit-Based Opportunity Enforcement Initiative, launched in March 2025, to root out unlawful race-based discrimination in HHS-funded medical education, the healthcare workforce pipeline, and healthcare facilities. Since then, OCR has initiated a number of investigations and compliance reviews involving medical schools and related HHS-funded health education and clinical training programs.

“Every student who walks into medical school should know their acceptance was earned through merit, not assigned based on race,” said Paula M. Stannard, Director of HHS’ Office for Civil Rights. “OCR is ensuring medical schools that receive federal funds follow the law. Discriminatory practices should not be able to hide behind any label. Our enforcement efforts are eliminating unlawful discrimination in HHS-funded programs and protecting equal treatment, merit-based opportunity, and clinical excellence in the training of America’s future healthcare workforce.”

The reviews are the latest in a series of initiatives OCR has implemented to ensure federal anti-discrimination laws are enforced consistently, including with respect to programs or projects labeled “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” (DEI). Entities that receive federal funds must ensure their federally funded programs and activities comply with federal law and do not discriminate based on race, color, national origin, disability, age, sex, religion, or other protected characteristics. This prohibition includes using those characteristics, or proxies for them, as a selection criterion for admission, scholarships or fellowships, residency programs, contracting, program participation, resource allocation, or similar activities, opportunities, or benefits. The reviews are also part of a joint effort with the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights to advance President Trump’s mission to eliminate racial discrimination in how medical schools admit students.

OCR has not reached any conclusions about the merits of these compliance reviews.

Background

On January 21, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14173, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity, directing federal agencies to enforce longstanding civil rights laws and combat illegal DEI preferences, mandates, policies, programs, and activities.

On May 6, 2025, OCR issued a “Dear Colleague” letter to medical schools clarifying that race-based criteria, racial stereotypes, and facially neutral criteria used as a pretext for race are prohibited under Title VI and Section 1557, including when diversity and racial-balancing are the stated aims. The letter puts medical schools on notice of their nondiscrimination obligations and OCR’s investigation priorities, including institutions that use race in admissions or employment, require diversity statements in hiring or promotion, or lack clear policies demonstrating compliance with the Supreme Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, 600 U.S. 181 (2023).

OCR’s most recent reviews follow OCR’s July 23, 2026 final rule updating its Title VI regulations to end disparate impact liability and return enforcement to Title VI’s statutory command prohibiting intentional discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in HHS-funded programs.

If you believe that you or someone else has been discriminated against because of race, color, national origin, disability, age, sex, or religion in a program or activity that HHS directly operates or to which HHS provides federal financial assistance, you may file a complaint with HHS OCR at hhs.gov/civil-rights/filing-a-complaint.

Follow HHS OCR on X at @HHSOCR.