The first distribution of settlement funds is underway for students who attended any of 10 elite universities involved in a federal class-action lawsuit.gettyThe first distribution of settlement funds is being sent to students who attended any of ten elite schools that have agreed to a $284 million settlement in a federal class-action lawsuit accusing them of colluding to fix the amount of financial aid they offered to students.Even though the majority of the 17 accused institutions agreed to a settlement, they have continued to deny that they did anything wrong. According to the settlement website, current and former students who attended Brown, University of Chicago, Columbia, Dartmouth, Duke, Emory, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Rice, and Yale will receive payments of an average of $2,000 apiece. The final amount depends on how many of the estimated 200,000 class members submit timely claims. Because the plaintiffs alleged an antitrust conspiracy, the amount of money any one member of the certified class will receive is not directly determined by the amount of money the institution that person attended agreed to with its settlement.Payments to students started to be sent out electronically on July 20 through ACH, PayPal, Zelle, and Venmo. Claimants who opted for a physical check should receive it by July 24.Also according to the settlement website, the parties have agreed to ask the Court “that any funds remaining after an initial distribution to the Settlement Class that are unable to be efficiently distributed to the Settlement Class be given, with the Court’s approval, to charitable causes that promote access to higher education for disadvantaged students and families.”The antitrust lawsuit was filed in 2022 in Illinois federal court by several law firms representing a group of students who previously attended the universities.The plaintiffs alleged the universities engaged in a price fixing scheme by sharing a methodology for how much financial aid would be awarded to prospective students. Specifically, the suit claimed the defendant universities “participated in a price-fixing cartel that is designed to reduce or eliminate financial aid as a locus of competition, and that in fact has artificially inflated the net price of attendance for students receiving financial aid.”If true, that would violate Section 568 of the Improving America’s Schools Act of 1994, which said universities can collaborate when they develop their financial aid formulas, but only if they do not consider applicants’ financial need in their individual admission decisions.The suit was brought against 17 members of the so-called “568 Presidents Group,” which several years ago developed a “Consensus Methodology” for determining a family’s ability to pay for college. According to the lawsuit, the group met at least annually to discuss financial aid calculations. The defendant universities were: 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, Rice University, Vanderbilt University, and Yale University.At this point, 12 of the universities have reached settlements, including Brown, Chicago, Columbia, Dartmouth, Duke, Emory, Northwestern, Rice, Vanderbilt, Yale, Caltech and Johns Hopkins University. The remaining defendants are Cornell, Georgetown, MIT, Notre Dame, and the University of Pennsylvania.