Financial Aid Lawsuit Against Caltech and Other Top Universities Continues
A federal court has preliminarily approved settlements in a class action lawsuit against several US colleges. The lawsuit alleges that the colleges worked together in an anti-trust manner in order to bring down the amount of financial aid awarded. The settlements were preliminarily approved March 29, 2024 and will have a final approval hearing July 19, 2024.
The universities named in the suit are Brown University, California Institute of Technology, University of Chicago, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Duke University, Emory University, Georgetown University, Johns Hopkins University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northwestern University, University of Notre Dame, University of Pennsylvania, William Marsh Rice University, Vanderbilt University, and Yale University. Out of these 17 universities, 10 (excluding Caltech) have settled the case, deciding to pay into the settlement fund and deny the allegations instead of continuing to fight the case and accrue legal fees.
The start of the class period varies per university, for Caltech it is between fall term 2019 and February 28, 2024. This means that anyone who receives financial aid from Caltech between fall term 2019 and February 28, 2024, is part of the settlement class and will receive a payout if they file a valid claim form.
The current total of the settlement fund is $284 million, and the settlement class is around 200,000. If half of the claimants submit timely claims, the average claimant will receive 2,000 dollars.
Members of the settlement class do not currently need to do anything as claim forms are not available at this time, however the deadline to object or exclude yourself from the settlements, and thus retain your personal right to sue, is May 13.
| University | Class Period Start | Settlement Amount | Settlement Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| UChicago | 2003 Fall Term | $13.5 million | August 7, 2023 |
| Emory | 2004 Fall Term | $18.5 million | January 22, 2024 |
| Yale | 2003 Fall Term | $18.5 million | January 22, 2024 |
| Brown | 2004 Fall Term | $19.5 million | January 22, 2024 |
| Columbia | 2003 Fall Term | $24 million | January 22, 2024 |
| Duke | 2003 Fall Term | $24 million | January 22, 2024 |
| Dartmouth | 2004 Fall Term | $33.75 million | February 22, 2024 |
| Rice | 2003 Fall Term | $33.75 million | February 22, 2024 |
| Northwestern | 2003 Fall Term | $43.5 million | February 22, 2024 |
| Vanderbilt | 2003 Fall Term | $55 million | February 22, 2024 |
| Cornell | 2003 Fall Term | N/A | N/A |
| Georgetown | 2003 Fall Term | N/A | N/A |
| MIT | 2003 Fall Term | N/A | N/A |
| Notre Dame | 2003 Fall Term | N/A | N/A |
| Penn | 2003 Fall Term | N/A | N/A |
| Caltech | 2019 Fall Term | N/A | N/A |
| Johns Hopkins | 2021 Fall Term | N/A | N/A |