Judge sends Harvard admissions data fight back to Justice Department

A federal judge in Boston threw out a lawsuit filed by the Justice Department against Harvard University on Monday. The case centered on the government's demand for five years of admissions records. Officials wanted the data to verify that the school stopped using race in its selection process.

The dispute began in 2025 when the Justice Department launched a compliance review. Investigators requested detailed files for applicants to Harvard's undergraduate, medical, and law programs. The list of required items included grades, test scores, essays, extracurricular activities, and final admissions outcomes. Officials specifically asked for the race and ethnicity of each applicant to check for potential bias.

Judge Myong Joun wrote that the agency failed to follow the proper legal steps before bringing the suit to court. He noted that the government must first tell a recipient it has failed to comply with a demand. The agency also had to determine that voluntary compliance was impossible before seeking judicial enforcement. Because the Justice Department skipped those steps, Joun dismissed the complaint.

The ruling does not end the fight over the data. Joun clarified that he decided a limited question about whether the government met its prerequisites for enforcement. He stated the decision does not determine if Harvard discriminated or if the agencies can lawfully seek the data. It also does not decide if Harvard will eventually be required to provide the records. Both Harvard and the Justice Department declined to comment on the ruling.

This decision marks another loss for the Trump administration in its legal battles with Harvard. The White House has cited allegations of anti-Jewish bias on campus as a reason for its actions. Harvard officials argue the administration is retaliating because the university refused to adopt specific ideological views. The conflict is part of a wider effort by the administration to challenge college admissions practices that consider race.

The Supreme Court barred affirmative action in college admissions in 2023. That decision followed lawsuits filed against Harvard and the University of North Carolina. In October, the Justice Department found that UCLA's law school illegally considered race in admissions. That finding came after a similar determination regarding UCLA's medical school. The administration has also accused UC Berkeley Law School and the UC San Diego medical school of discriminating against white and Asian applicants.