A recent settlement between the U.S. Justice Department and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology permits Dartmouth to share limited financial aid information with other schools. But Cary Clark, the College's top lawyer, said there are currently no plans to resume the process known as "overlap" that was attacked as collusion by the Bush Administration.
"Dartmouth cannot at this moment partake of the specific gains of the M.I.T. [settlement]," Clark said.
Under the old overlap process, Dartmouth and more than 20 of the nation's best schools would meet to discuss financial aid packages for students who had been admitted to more than one school in an effort to limit bidding wars for the best students.
The Justice Department accused the schools of price-fixing and said the overlap process prevented students from shopping around for the best financial aid package.
M.I.T. was the only school to fight the Justice Department in court. Dartmouth and the other Ivy League schools signed a consent decree, agreeing to discontinue the overlap process to avoid federal prosecution.
"We felt we should spend our money on giving financial aid rather than going to court," College Spokesman Alex Huppe said. "M.I.T. has spent millions."
M.I.T. based its case on the belief that financial aid is charity and not commerce. M.I.T. argued that like other colleges and universities it is a non-profit organization and any money saved by the overlap process benefited the school's entire student body.
This agreement is what currently presents the College from resuming the overlap process. If the College wishes to participate in the new information sharing process, which will take place over a computer network, it will have to renegotiate the previous agreement.
A U.S. District Court ruled against M.I.T. in 1992 but the Court of Appeals sent the case back for further analysis. The settlement reached two weeks ago avoids further court time and legal expenses.
The agreement has been hailed by Ivy League presidents as a recognition by the Justice Department of the importance of financial aid in recruiting students.
"The nature of financial aid in principle makes universities and colleges different from for profit companies. The principle was that non-profit colleges are in a very different business than toaster manufacturers," Huppe said.
"I think that all the institutions believe that what we've engaged in shouldn't be confused with other profit-making industries, and that should be recognized by the Justice Department. This is an enlightenment," Huppe said.
The M.I.T. settlement allows the other schools to renegotiate the consent decree. The schools would be allowed to resume a limited form of consultation - to discuss financial aid policies and use a database to verify students' financial information - but they would not be allowed to compare specific students' aid packages and must agree to certain conditions.
The most important of these conditions that schools using the database must have a need-blind admissions policy. Need-blind admissions assures that students are accepted regardless of their ability to pay tuition. Brown University is the only Ivy League school that does not offer need-blind admissions. Dartmouth has a need-blind admissions policy but it does not apply to international students.
Clark said the College would still be able to share information even though the need-blind admissions policy is limited to American students.
Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Karl Furstenburg said it will be some time before the effects of the settlement become clear.
He said the information exchanged between schools in the past ensured the accuracy of applicants' financial information.
The database would allow schools to catch inconsistencies, for example if a student claimed to be one of three dependents on one school's financial aid application but one of four dependents on another's.
Furstenberg said this was the main benefit of overlap. "There was never any attempt to agree on the financial aid package. That was largely exaggerated by the Justice Department," Furstenburg said.
In a statement announcing the settlement with M.I.T., the Justice Department maintained that the schools had violated the law.
"The Justice Department continues to believe overlap is illegal and violates the anti-trust laws. This settlement will not restore overlap," said Robert E. Litan, deputy assistant attorney general for the department's Antitrust Division.
