Three of Maine's most prestigious private colleges are among several elite educational institutions across the nation that have been caught up in a U.S. Department of Justice antitrust investigation.
First reported by Inside Higher Ed and the Wall Street Journal, the federal antitrust investigation involves allegations of information exchanges among the schools regarding early decision students seeking admission to multiple colleges. The Department of Justice has declined to comment on the probe, but the Wall Street Journal reported that it appears the feds are trying to determine whether the schools accepted or rejected students seeking admission based on the admission decisions of other colleges the students applied to.
The communications offices for Bates, Bowdoin and Colby colleges confirmed that they have in fact received notifications from the Department of Justice about the ongoing probe and are complying with its requests.