DOJ Ends Race-Based Admissions at Jersey City Magnet School
The Justice Department has ended race-based admissions at a top Jersey City magnet school under a settlement that restores merit-based selection, marking the latest move against DEI policies in federally funded education.
The Justice Department ended race-based admissions at one of New Jersey's top public high schools this week. Dr. Ronald E. McNair Academic High School in Jersey City will dismantle its quota system under a settlement announced July 9. Students will now compete for seats based on merit alone, regardless of ethnicity.
The agreement forces the selective magnet school to abandon its practice of reserving seats by race or national origin. The new admissions process takes effect beginning with the 2027-2028 cycle.
Ranked fourth in New Jersey, McNair boasts a 100 percent graduation rate and 100 percent four-year college attendance. The school's previous four-category system violated Title IV of the Civil Rights Act. It reserved exactly 50 seats for each racial category — "Black," "White," "Hispanic" and "Other" — based on applicant self-identification. Admissions officers then selected the top students within each group.
The school weighed PSAT scores and middle school grades at 80 percent of admissions criteria. Yet racial preferences overrode those measures. DOJ officials called the system an illegal barrier to fair competition.
Asian students made up 42.9 percent of McNair's enrollment in 2019-2020, far exceeding the 25 percent per-category design goal. The numbers illustrate how race-based admissions can sideline qualified applicants.
"Quota systems that define students by their race or national origin have been illegal since the 1970s," said Harmeet K. Dhillon, assistant attorney general for the DOJ Civil Rights Division. "Federal law requires that all students, regardless of their race or national origin, be allowed to compete for admission to the best schools in their district — and this Department of Justice will ensure they have equal opportunity to do so."
The settlement builds on Executive Order 14281, which President Trump signed in April 2025. The order directed federal agencies to eliminate race-based preferences and disparate-impact liability.
The DOJ has pursued enforcement actions at multiple institutions. Investigations uncovered race discrimination at UC Davis Medical School, Yale School of Medicine, and UCLA Medical School. The department also joined a lawsuit against Los Angeles Unified School District. A February 2025 Dear Colleague Letter from the Education Department warned that institutions could lose federal funding for maintaining race-conscious policies.
"Students must be assessed according to merit and accomplishment, not prejudged by the color of their skin," Education Secretary Linda McMahon stated in March 2025. "We will not yield on this commitment."
Civil rights groups argue the crackdown undermines desegregation efforts. The administration's position tracks with Supreme Court precedent. The court's 2023 ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard struck down race-conscious admissions as unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment.
"Eliminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the 6-3 majority opinion. The ruling now guides K-12 admissions policies nationwide.
The Jersey City Board of Education must submit regular status reports to the DOJ. The board must also adopt a race-neutral admissions policy before the 2027-2028 cycle. The settlement remains in effect until August 15, 2029, unless both parties agree to modify it.
District officials did not respond to requests for comment. The agreement signals that other specialized academies in Jersey City will face similar scrutiny. A move toward strictly race-neutral selection processes ensures a level playing field for every student competing for elite educational opportunities.