A new report shows racial preferences continue at medical schools.

By The Editorial Board – July 16, 2025 5:49 pm ET – WSJ

The Supreme Court banned racial preferences in university admissions, but finding ways to maintain them has become a cottage industry in higher education. Medical schools are among the frequent offenders, and a new report shows how schools have maintained different standards for applicants depending on their race.

Do No Harm, a group that studies preferences in medicine, submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to 93 public medical schools for 2024 admissions data on race, undergraduate GPA, Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) scores, and whether or not the applicant was admitted. Twenty-three schools have responded so far, and the data suggests racial preferences are still going strong.

At the responding schools, admitted black applicants had lower MCAT scores than admitted white and Asian applicants at 22 out of 23 schools. Admitted Asian students had a mean MCAT score of 514, approximately the 88th percentile. Admitted black students had a mean score of 508.3, approximately the 73rd percentile. The delta also existed for comparative GPAs among the groups.

Dishonorable mention goes to the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, where a black medical school applicant was about 10 times more likely to be admitted than white or Asian applicants with identical test scores and GPA. At Eastern Virginia Medical School, black applicants were about 11 times more likely to be admitted. There’s no way to explain that multiple without racial preferences.

After the Justices ended racial preferences in Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) v. Harvard in June 2023, the Association of American Medical Colleges said it was “deeply disappointed” in the Court’s decision and that “racial and ethnic diversity in educational settings” provided “critical benefits” and a way to address health inequities. Schools have been looking for ways around the Court ever since.

In the admissions cycles since 2023, little has changed. At many universities, demographic data of admitted students has held steady and in some cases the share of “underrepresented” minorities has increased. Data from 34 schools shows that the racial composition of medical schools hasn’t changed much since the Supreme Court’s decision.

The report by Ian Kingsbury and Naomi Risch concedes that “qualities like empathy and strong interpersonal skills matter when it comes to excellence in medicine,” but they don’t substitute for medical and scientific aptitude. Preferences that elevate less qualified doctors won’t reduce inequities in public health, but they will stigmatize successful minority applicants who excel. Oh, and to remind, racial preferences are against the law.