Elite school students get payments from $284M price-fixing settlement

Payments went out July 20 to current and former students at 10 elite schools as part of a $284 million settlement. The settlement resolves a 2022 lawsuit that accused the schools of operating "a price-fixing cartel" that reduced financial aid packages and overcharged students "by at least hundreds of millions of dollars," the lawsuit said.

The schools denied wrongdoing and agreed to the payments. Affected schools include Brown, University of Chicago, Columbia, Dartmouth, Duke, Emory, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Rice, and Yale. Students who attended these schools as undergraduates, received need-based financial aid, and had tuition and room and board costs not fully covered by aid are eligible.

Payments average about $2,000 per student. The settlement administrator is sending money through ACH, PayPal, Zelle, and Venmo. Those who chose a physical check should receive it by July 24.