The US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] confirmed [letter] on Thursday affirmative action in university admissions is currently under investigation.

The confirmation came via a refusal [press release] by the DOJ to honor Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by American Oversight and Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law [advocacy websites].

The request was made to due reports [NYT reports] alleging affirmative action [JURIST backgrounder] programs were under investigation by the current administration. The organizations then sent a FOIA request [request] to understand the scope [tweet] of the race based admissions investigation.

The DOJ responded:

Please be advised that the records you have requested related to investigations of admissions policies are exempt from disclosure pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(7)(A), which pertains to records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes the release of which could reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings. Additionally, certain information within these records is also exempt pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(5), which pertains to certain inter- and intra-agency communications protected by the deliberative process and attorney work-product privileges.

The investigation comes after the administration’s previous statements [NBC report] against the admissions [WAPO report] process. Since 1976, the number of minorities enrolling in colleges and universities has increased [NCES report] to the point that women are receiving a slight majority [NCES report] of degrees on an annual basis.