The U.S. Department of Justice is looking into whether communications among officials at competing colleges about early-decision applicants violate antitrust laws, the latest in a series of investigations the federal government has launched into higher-education admission practices in recent months.
The Justice Department sent letters to a number of colleges and universities this week asking that they preserve emails and other messages detailing agreements with other schools regarding their communications with one another about admitted students and how they might use that information.
It wasn’t clear how many schools received the letters. The news was reported Friday evening by Inside Higher Ed.
Many elite colleges admit upward of 40% of their first-year classes through early admissions, including binding early-decision programs under which applicants commit to attending the school if accepted. In another early-admissions option, some institutions bar students from applying early to other private colleges, but allow them to submit early applications to public universities.
In a letter dated April 6, a copy of which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, the Justice Department asked schools to preserve documents that detail formal or informal agreements to share the identities of accepted students with people at other colleges.