Court cases arising out of the current legal and political controversy over the Virginia Military Institute's policy of admitting only men are examined as they apply to the nation's three other publicly supported single-sex colleges: the Citadel (South Carolina), Mississippi University for Women, and Texas Woman's University. (DB)

A federal appeals court has given the Massachusetts Institute of Technology another chance to prove in court that the Overlap Group, of which MIT was a member, did not violate antitrust laws. The group of 23 colleges set common financial-aid awards for students admitted to more than one institution. (MSE)

A ruling in a dispute over whether the State University of New York System was justified in barring from its Cortland campus a group selling kitchen products is discussed. The case involved the legality of a regulation that bars most commercial activity from SUNY campuses. (MLW)

The Justice Department has dropped its antitrust inquiry, started in 1989, concerning 19 private colleges sharing information about tuition rates and financial aid awards. However, no members of the "Overlap Group," 14 prestigious northeast colleges, were notified of charges being dropped. The suit has involved high legal fees by…

The Hispanic student at the University of Maryland at College Park who won a court case challenging the restriction of one scholarship to black students has gone on to medical school. His argument was that scholarships should be based on merit and need, not restricted to any ethnic or racial group. (MSE)

The Supreme Court has ruled that statistical evidence about the effects of an employer's policies can be used to prove discrimination in situations where a variety of imprecise criteria are used. The decision is applicable to faculty salary and tenure disputes. (MSE)

A federal appeals court has ruled that the University of Maryland had no right to restrict one of its scholarships to black students. This is the highest level judicial ruling on minority scholarships. The court rejected much of the university's evidence supporting such forms of financial aid. (MSE)

A federal judge has affirmed the legality of a scholarship program for black students at the University of Maryland at College Park, based on evidence of present effects of past discrimination provided by the university itself. (MSE)

The Supreme Court's 1992 decision on desegregation in state higher education systems is criticized for lacking force and creating confusion. The ruling encourages states to support historically black colleges by adding academic programs. Some feel the ruling will not help most black students, who are enrolled in predominantly white institutions.…

The Department of Education's announcement of new policy concerning the evaluation of college desegregation efforts could affect the monitoring of compliance in several states in which court-ordered desegregation plans have expired. The higher standards are based on the 1992 Supreme Court ruling, United States v. Fordice. (MSE)

A federal judge has ruled that 23 prestigious colleges and universities in the Overlap Group violated federal antitrust laws for over 20 years when they met to compare financial-aid packages to be awarded to prospective students, rejecting arguments of social and educational need and nonapplicability of antitrust law. Massachusetts Institute of…

The U.S. Justice Department is renewing its charge, overturned last year, that Alabama's public colleges are racially segregated, focusing on discrimination in individual programs receiving federal funds. (MSE)

A federal appeals court has ruled that there are legitimate reasons a state can operate a single-sex college, provided appropriate programs exist for men and women. Virginia Military Institute provides "adversative" education, grueling physical training without privacy, that would suffer if women were admitted. A proposed separate…

The Supreme Court will not consider an appeal of a lower-court ruling invalidating a black-only scholarship program at the University of Maryland at College Park. Reaction among colleges and universities is mixed; many are seeking ways for scholarship programs to favor minorities without excluding whites. (MSE)

The Justice Department's antitrust investigation of private-college collaboration on student financial aid (the Overlap Group) has closed, with charges against the Massachusetts Institute of Technology dropped and announcement of a new system by which institutions may share information. Institutions are skeptical about the practicality of the new…