College Financial Aid Antitrust Settlement: $284M

The settlement includes students enrolled in one or more of the defendants’ full-time undergraduate programs who received some need-based financial aid but whose tuition, fees, room, or board were not fully covered by financial aid during the following class periods:

• • For students at Chicago, Columbia, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, MIT, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Penn, Rice, Vanderbilt, and Yale: Fall Term 2003 through Feb. 28, 2024.
  • For students at Brown, Dartmouth, and Emory: Fall Term 2004 through Feb. 28, 2024.
  • For CalTech students: Fall Term 2019 through Feb. 28, 2024.
  • For Johns Hopkins students: Fall Term 2021 through Feb. 28, 2024.

Yes. Academic information is required to support claims for the settlement.

A class action lawsuit was filed against several prestigious universities, accusing them of participating in an anticompetitive scheme through the 568 Presidents Group. Plaintiffs claim these universities shared financial aid information to limit the amount of need-based aid students received, effectively inflating the costs of attendance.

Although the universities involved haven’t admitted any wrongdoing, they agreed to a $284 million settlement to resolve the lawsuit.

Under the terms of the settlement, class members will receive a cash payment based on the number of years they paid tuition, room, or board, and the amount of financial aid they received. To receive a cash payment from the settlement, class members must submit a valid claim form by December 17, 2024.