Publication

David Harper, Nicole Somerville in University Business: Homework for College and University Counsel

September 17, 2019

With ongoing criminal investigations, potential litigation and more oversight from the government and other monitoring organizations, it's a good time for all schools to pressure test various admissions-related areas.

With the seeming explosion of new federal investigations and litigation related to college admissions, college and university in-house counsel have had plenty of homework.

Varsity Blues shows that admission to college is still a prize and the money in college sports may have a wide corrupting influence. (And this does not even begin to touch all the issues raised by money from apparel deals and future professional status for athletes we see in the on-going basketball criminal investigations and charges.)

Now, the money does not come from shoe companies or agents, but from parents who want to secure a special spot for their child.

Your school’s administrators may think: “We are not Stanford or Yale, this is not a problem here.” But, the truth is admission is hard at almost every school for someone. Colleges are constantly trying to raise their selectivity. And, beyond admission to the university in general, there are special programs like honors colleges or a selective business or arts program, that carry the same temptations.

Excerpted from University Business. To read the full article, click here.

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