Law group sues Medical College of Wisconsin over race-based enrollment quota

A Wisconsin law group has filed another lawsuit over race-based state policy, this time over a race-based quota for minority student enrollment at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

The medical college must “make every effort to ensure” minority students comprise at least 5% of its total enrollment in order to qualify for millions in taxpayer funding, according to a lawsuit from the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty on behalf of the group Citizens Defending Liberty.

“Wisconsin should be opening doors for future doctors while treating every applicant equally,” WILL Deputy Counsel Rebecca Furde said in a statement. “Instead, state law ties millions of taxpayer dollars to a race-based admissions quota. Every aspiring doctor deserves a fair shot and our clients should not be forced to bankroll unconstitutional discrimination. We’re suing to restore merit and equal treatment to our medical schools.”

The college will receive $14 million in state funding this fiscal year and also received $428 million in federal funding in fiscal 2025.

The lawsuit comes after WILL won a Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling against the Higher Educational Aids Board over a race-based state program and since has filed lawsuits over a minority teacher loan program, supplier diversity program and UW-Madison’s race-based scholarships.

WILL argues that MCW’s quota violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.