The University of Chicago has settled a class-action lawsuit alleging the school, along with a consortium of other elite universities, illegally collaborated in a price-fixing scheme to limit students’ financial aid.
The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Chicago in early 2022. It alleged that more than a dozen universities, including U. of C., violated antitrust law by participating in a “price-fixing cartel” that “artificially inflated the net price of attendance for students receiving financial aid.”
In a proposed settlement agreement filed Monday, U. of C. agreed to pay out a total of $13.5 million to settle the lawsuit.
The proposed settlement is subject to final approval by a judge.
If approved, class members will include students who received need-based financial aid from U. of C. and enrolled as undergraduates since 2003. Students or their families must have paid the university directly for tuition, fees, room or board that was not covered by financial aid or other merit aid, not including loans.
In a statement, the university said it believed the plaintiffs’ claims were meritless and said it “is committed to removing financial barriers for undergraduate students who are admitted to the college and is proud of the extensive financial aid we offer to students.”
“We look forward to putting this matter behind us and continuing to focus our efforts on expanding access to a transformative undergraduate education,” the university said.
Other universities being sued over alleged price-fixing include Northwestern University, University of Notre Dame, MIT, Duke University and some Ivy League schools. U. of C. is the only university to settle over the allegations so far.
As part of the settlement agreement, U. of C. has agreed to cooperate with the plaintiffs during discovery, including by producing certain documents, according to court filings.
The original complaint alleged the group of universities overcharged more than 170,000 financial aid recipients over the course of almost two decades to the tune of “at least hundreds of millions of dollars.”
According to the complaint, the universities collectively adopted a financial aid formula in violation of antitrust laws. Under the 568 Exemption, a section of the Improving America’s Schools Act of 1994, universities are allowed to collaborate so long as they admit all students on a need-blind basis.
But the lawsuit alleges that some of the universities being sued, not including U. of C., have considered the financial needs of students and their families during the admissions process.
The other universities, including the U. of C., “may or may not have adhered to need-blind admissions policies, but they nonetheless conspired with the other defendants,” the complaint alleged.
