Federal Judge Dismisses Trump Harvard Admissions Lawsuit

A federal court in Boston has rejected the Trump administration's attempt to obtain years of Harvard University admissions records, dismissing a Justice Department lawsuit over an investigation into whether the university continues to consider race when selecting students. US District Judge Myong Joun issued the ruling Monday, November 2, 2026.

The Justice Department filed the lawsuit in February, arguing that Harvard had failed to comply with an investigation into its admissions practices following a 2023 US Supreme Court ruling that rejected race-conscious admissions programs designed to increase minority enrollment.

The administration argued that the Justice Department and the US Department of Education needed years of applicant-level admissions data to determine whether race remained a factor in Harvard's selection decisions.

Harvard challenged the lawsuit, arguing that the government had not followed legally required procedures to obtain voluntary compliance before taking the case to court. The university also raised concerns about the disclosure of sensitive information concerning thousands of high school students who had applied for admission.

Harvard's legal team maintained that the lawsuit formed part of a broader campaign against the university after it rejected demands to change its governance, hiring practices and academic programs to align with the administration's agenda.

The university also argued that the legal action was retaliatory, following President Donald Trump's announcement in early February that he was ending settlement negotiations and seeking $1 billion in damages.

Trump had accused Harvard of misconduct, saying the institution had "been, for a long time, behaving very badly."

The dispute comes amid several other legal confrontations between Harvard and the Trump administration. The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based university has previously obtained favorable rulings against government efforts to terminate more than $2 billion in grants, prevent it from hosting international students and pursue a lawsuit over alleged failures to protect Jewish and Israeli students from harassment.

The administration has sought to use federal funding and government authority to push changes at universities that Trump has described as dominated by "radical left" ideologies.

The admissions investigation centers on Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits racial discrimination in education programs receiving federal assistance. The Justice Department sought Harvard's records to determine whether its admissions policies comply with the law and the Supreme Court's 2023 decision.