Brown University settles in price-fixing lawsuit
Brown University is among a handful of elite schools settling in a lawsuit alleging participation in a price-fixing scheme.
Brown revealed in a news release Tuesday that it would pay $19.5 million into a settlement fund for students and alumni of 17 institutions that are part of the so-called 568 Presidents Group. Brown described it as “a consortium of higher education institutions committed to serving the financial-aid needs of students and their families.” But critics argue it was the opposite, describing it as a “cartel” that devised a price-fixing arrangement to limit financial aid.
Brown left the group in 2012; it was disbanded in 2022.
Brown denies the allegations. So why did it settle?
Through a spokesperson, the university denies allegations that it broke antitrust laws and suppressed financial aid. But the school chose to settle anyway, on the condition that it would admit no wrongdoing. Brown called its participation in the 568 Presidents Group “lawful and consistent with the best interests of students at all times.”
“We vehemently believe that the claims had no merit, but given the time and financial resources required to take this case to trial, we determined that our resources are better spent resolving this matter and supporting the education of our students,” university spokesman Brian Clark said. “We’ll continue our commitment to meeting the full financial need of all our students and to continually build upon the generous financial aid and access initiatives in place already.”
1st school settled in August 2022 in a tipping point
The University of Chicago became the first of the defendants to settle in the case, in August 2022, for $13.2 million.
At the time, Brown was mum on whether it would settle, too. However, the university would have had to consider “joint and several liability,” a legal concept that means when the pool of defendants shrinks, the ones left could shoulder responsibility for the entire case.
Other defendant schools included Columbia, Cornell, Duke, Emory, Georgetown, Northwestern, Rice, Vanderbilt, Yale, the California Institute of Technology, Dartmouth, Johns Hopkins, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Notre Dame and the University of Pennsylvania.
The New York Times reported Wednesday that Columbia, Duke, Emory and Yale have also settled. The settlement total among those schools and Brown is $104.5 million, the Times reported.