Henry, et al. v. Brown University, et al. – 568 Cartel Antitrust Litigation

Berger Montague serves as co-lead counsel and obtained $319 million in settlements to date in this antitrust class action lawsuit filed against Brown University, California Institute of Technology, University of Chicago, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Duke University, Emory University, Georgetown University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northwestern University, Notre Dame, University of Pennsylvania, Rice University, Vanderbilt University, and Yale University.

U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Kennelly rejected motions by the defendant universities to dismiss the case. Discovery in the litigation is now going forward.

The lawsuit alleges that the defendant schools purported to collude on financial aid awards under the auspices of an antitrust exemption that permits schools that are need-blind—and only such schools—to collude on a formula for financial aid with other need-blind schools. The plaintiffs further allege that the schools systematically violated the terms of that antitrust exemption by failing to admit students on a fully need-blind basis or by colluding with institutions who failed in that way.

As alleged, these schools have thus taken advantage of an antitrust exemption to which they were not entitled, in violation of the antitrust laws of the United States, and as a result of this antitrust conspiracy, these schools have artificially reduced financial aid, and systematically increased the net tuition prices paid by thousands of students and their families. These students and their parents are members of the proposed class in this antitrust action that seeks to hold these elite institutions accountable for their misconduct, put a halt to these activities, and obtain damages to make the class members whole.

A copy of the Class Action Complaint is available here. The preliminary approval is available here. A separate website with additional information has been set up for this case at www.568cartel.com.

Read more about this case:

• Ill. Judge OKs $35M More In College Aid-Fixing Settlements (Law360, January 24, 2025).
• Penn One of Six Universities Yet to Settle $2 Billion Anti-trust Lawsuit (The Daily Pennsylvanian, January 14, 2025)
• Students Overpaid Elite Colleges $685 Million, ‘Price-Fixing’ Suit Says (Washington Post, December 17, 2024)
• Lawsuit Reveals How Colleges Really Talk About Rich Applicants (Wall Street Journal, December 17, 2024)
• Students Overpaid Elite Colleges $685 Million Price Fixing Suit Says (Boston Globe, December 17, 2024)
• Elite Universities Including MIT, Georgetown Accused in Court Filing of Favoring Wealthy in Admissions (The Hill, December 17, 2024)
• ‘Please Admit’: Rampant Donor Preferences Alleged in College Financial Aid Lawsuit (USA Today, December 18, 2024)
• Schools Fighting Price-Fixing Suit Face $685M Damages Claim (Law360, December 18, 2024)
• Some Elite US Universities Favor Wealthy Students in Admissions Decisions, Lawsuit Alleges (AP, December 18, 2024)
• Final Day to File Claims in Class-Action Lawsuit Alleging Tuition Overcharging by Top Universities (MSN, December 18, 2024)
• Yale, Duke and Columbia Among Elite Schools to Settle in Price-Fixing Case (New York Times, January 23, 2024)
• Lawsuit against Georgetown, other schools, renews questions over admissions practices (Washington Post, January 16, 2022)

If you or your company has been harmed by anticompetitive conduct or any conduct that you believe violates the antitrust laws, please contact Berger Montague.

Berger Montague is one of the nation’s preeminent law firms focusing on complex civil litigation, class actions, and mass torts in federal and state courts throughout the United States. The firm is active in the fields of antitrust, commercial litigation, consumer protection, defective products, environmental law, employment law, securities, and whistleblower cases, among many other practice areas. For more than 50 years, Berger Montague has played lead roles in precedent-setting cases and has recovered over $50 billion for its clients and the classes they have represented. Berger Montague is headquartered in Philadelphia and has offices in Chicago; Malvern, PA; Minneapolis; San Diego; San Francisco; Toronto, Canada; Washington, D.C., and Wilmington, DE.