Emory University resolves antitrust lawsuit, agrees to $18.5M settlement in ‘Elite Universities Price Fixing Lawsuit’

Emory University, among 17 highly ranked private institutions, has agreed to pay $18.5 million as part of a preliminary settlement to resolve its involvement in a 2022 federal antitrust lawsuit.

The lawsuit was brought on behalf of students who alleged that these universities, including Emory, “conspired to reduce the amount of financial aid they provide to admitted students.”

Attorneys for the plaintiffs are urging the remaining schools to reach agreements, emphasizing the need to rectify alleged overcharges to middle-class and working-class students resulting from years of collusion on financial aid by elite universities.

Plaintiffs in the suit, filed in January 2022, allege that the universities named in the suit artificially inflated the prices of attendance by reducing financial aid options.

Emory is among the highly ranked private institutions named in the lawsuit that contends that some of the schools allegedly “conspired” through the “568 Presidents Group” to share financial aid information, using common principles to calculate students’ financial need.

Allegedly, over 170,000 financial aid recipients were overcharged “by at least hundreds of millions of dollars” over nearly two decades. The scheme allegedly allowed the schools to favor wealthy applicants in their admissions.

The group dissolved in late 2022. Emory was a member from 1998 to 2012, according to the complaint.

Documents filed in U.S. District Court in Illinois on Tuesday indicate that Emory, Brown, Columbia, Duke, and Yale universities have collectively agreed to make settlement payments totaling $104.5 million. The settlement is subject to court review and approval.

Emory’s spokesperson, Laura Diamond, stated, “While Emory continues to believe the plaintiffs’ claims have no merit, we are pleased the litigation is behind us. Our focus has been and always will be to make an Emory education accessible to all talented students, regardless of their financial resources, and we look forward to continuing that mission.”

The University of Chicago has already received preliminary approval for a $13.5 million settlement, and Vanderbilt University has reached a settlement for an undisclosed amount, pending finalization.

Additionally, 10 other schools, namely the University of Pennsylvania, Georgetown University, Cornell University, University of Notre Dame, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Caltech, Johns Hopkins University, Dartmouth College, Northwestern University, and Rice University, were also named as defendants in the lawsuit. Rice University is reported to pay over $33 million to settle the case, according to university financial statements.

Eligible students who enrolled at the 17 defendant schools could receive an average payment of about $750 from the settlement fund, according to legal filings.

There are currently nine remaining universities named in the lawsuit:

• The California Institute of Technology
• Cornell University
• Dartmouth College
• Georgetown University
• Johns Hopkins University
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Northwestern University
• University of Notre Dame du Lac
• University of Pennsylvania