Federal judge dismisses lawsuit against Harvard over federal demand for admissions data

BOSTON (AP) — 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.

But 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 ruling is the latest setback against the Trump administration over its ongoing battle with Harvard. It has suffered defeats in the federal courts over everything from billions of dollars in funding cuts to a lawsuit accusing the university of antisemitism.

Trump 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.

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, medial 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.

The effort against 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 found the law school at the University of California, Los Angeles, illegally considered race in admissions. The announcement follows a similar finding against the university’s medical school.

The administration also has accused the UC Berkeley Law School and the medical school at the University of California, San Diego, of illegally discriminating against white and Asian applicants.