After two years of study, the Justice Department announced Thursday via a letter that Yale University violated federal civil-rights law by making race and national origin the determinative factor in its admissions process. 

According to the government, Asian American and White applicants have a one-tenth to one-fourth chance of being admitted as similarly situated African American applicants.

The letter required Yale to drop race and national origin as criteria and add more measurable goals for admission or risk a lawsuit. If the Justice Department does sue, the case would join several others centered on “reverse discrimination” in higher education currently winding their way through the courts. For example, Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard contests Harvard’s treatment of Asian applicants and currently sits before the First Circuit, where it is expected to eventually go to the Supreme Court