Students who attended 10 elite schools accused of price fixing are now getting payments from a $284 million settlement

• Current and former students of 10 elite schools are receiving payments from a $284 million financial aid settlement.
• Recipients are expected to receive an average of $2,000.
• It follows an antitrust lawsuit that accused schools of participating in a “price-fixing cartel.”

Check your bank account: you might be a couple of thousand dollars richer.

On July 20, the first batch of payments to current and former students who attended 10 elite schools was distributed from a $284 million settlement. It follows a 2022 lawsuit filed by students who accused the schools of participating in “a price-fixing cartel” that favored wealthy students and reduced financial aid packages for students, overcharging recipients “by at least hundreds of millions of dollars,” according to the lawsuit.

The schools denied wrongdoing and agreed to make settlement payments to resolve the claims. According to the settlement website, current and former students who attended the following schools will receive payments of an average of $2,000: Brown, University of Chicago, Columbia, Dartmouth, Duke, Emory, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Rice, and Yale.

Payments are being sent out through ACH, PayPal, Zelle, and Venmo. Those who opted for a physical check are expected to receive it by July 24.

Current and former students are expected to receive payments if they were enrolled in one of the listed schools’ undergraduate programs full-time, received need-based financial aid from the school, and whose tuition and room and board costs were not fully covered by the financial aid they received.

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