Second DOJ antitrust investigation into college admissions in 2018 shows focused interest

NEW ORLEANS - Oct. 12, 2018 - PRLog -- Several universities reported that in April of this year they received a letter from the U.S Department of Justice, requesting that the universities preserve and maintain certain documents in light of an ongoing investigation. The letter explained that the investigation surrounds potential arrangements that colleges and universities may have pertaining to their early decision admission program and sharing of information between such institutions.

Specifically, the letter requests that universities and colleges maintain the following information:

- Formal or informal agreements pertaining to sharing identities of accepted students with other institutions.

- Communications with individuals at other institutions pertaining to identities of accepted students

- Internal documents regarding such communication pertaining to identities of accepted students.

- Documents pertaining to actions or decisions based in whole or part on identities of students accepted at other universities.

- Admission record of such identified students.

Although some elite institutions used to share financial aid information of applying students amongst them in the past, the practice stopped as a result of an agreement between the Department of Justice and Ivy League institutions in 1991.  The agreement came at the end of a DOJ investigation into the information sharing practice.  Although the agreement only involved Ivy League institutions, other institutions followed suit and stayed away from the practice.  Recent signs, however, signals that certain institutions may be engaging in information sharing again.

Institutions have publicly said that they are fully cooperating with the DOJ.  Some universities have noted important distinctions between the practice in 1991 versus now.  First, information being shared now is part of the early decision admission process, which is entirely voluntary.  Second, students consent to such disclosure in the Common Applications utilized by the institutions.

Interestingly, this is the second DOJ antitrust investigation into college admission standards in this year alone.  Earlier this year, DOJ launched an investigation into whether the revised National Association for College Admission Counseling ethics code constitutes restraint on trade among the institutions pertaining to recruitment of student athletes.  It remains to be seen as to where these investigations will lead, but suffice to say, DOJ antitrust division seems to be taking an interest in university admission policies.

About  K. Todd Wallace, Attorney in New Orleans

Mr. Wallace has nearly 20 years of experience in the legal and business professions with established excellence in trial advocacy, negotiation, strategic and initiative planning, employment law compliance, government relations, mergers and acquisitions, and team building. He received his Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Loyola University College of Law, New Orleans, LA and while at Loyola, he served as the Managing Editor of the Loyola Law Review, and as a member of the William C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Team. Before law school, he received his Bachelor of Arts, Political Science, from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC.

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