Antitrust attorney K.
Todd Wallace comments on the latest antitrust investigation of certain universities’
early decision admission program by the U.S. Department of Justice.
This is the second DOJ
antitrust investigation in college admission in 2018, showing a focused
interest in university admission policies, notes attorney K. Todd Wallace
In April 2018, several universities reported that 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 use 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.
*** K. Todd Wallace is an attorney at Wallace Meyaski in New Orleans. He has nearly 20 years of experience in the legal and business professions with established excellence in trial advocacy, negotiation, strategic and initiative planning, government relations, mergers and acquisitions, and team building. See http://www.walmey.com/our-attorneys/k-todd-wallace/
