Bias found in Yale admission practices

WASHINGTON — A U.S. Justice Department investigation has found Yale University is illegally discriminating against Asian American and white applicants, in violation of federal civil-rights law, officials said Thursday.

Yale denied the allegation, calling it “meritless” and “hasty.” The findings, detailed in a letter Thursday to the college’s attorneys, mark the latest action by the Trump administration aimed at discrimination in the college application process after complaints from students about the process at some Ivy League colleges.

The two-year investigation concluded that Yale “rejects scores of Asian American and white applicants each year based on their race, whom it otherwise would admit,” the Justice Department said. The investigation concluded that Asian American and white students have “only one-tenth to one-fourth of the likelihood of admission as African American applicants with comparable academic credentials.”

The Justice Department has demanded that Yale immediately stop and agree not to use race or national origin for upcoming admissions.

In a statement, Yale said it “categorically denies this allegation,” and has cooperated fully by turning over a “substantial amount” of information to investigators.

“Had the department fully received and fairly weighed this information, it would have concluded that Yale’s practices absolutely comply with decades of Supreme Court precedent.”