The students who sued these schools, members of the now disbanded 568 President’s group (which allowed them to coordinate financial aid practices), charge that price fixing led to higher prices because there was less competition.
As is clear, these universities weren’t practicing need blind admissions for everyone (Waitlist, international, student athletes, Questbridge…these schools often know the FA status of at least some of these students), which was required to qualify for the anti-trust exemption.
From one of the many articles on the ongoing lawsuit:
It’s named after an antitrust exemption that allows it to exist, Section 568 of the Improving America’s Schools Act of 1994. The exemption shields universities using need-blind admissions, meaning they don’t consider students’ financial need when deciding whether to accept or reject applicants.
UChicago settling to make this go away and the judge not dismissing the case, suggest there is merit to the case.