The Biden Justice Department is siding with five former college students in a legal battle over a financial aid price-fixing conspiracy at 17 elite universities.
In a statement of interest filed Thursday in federal court, the Department of Justice challenged the universities’ claim to receive an exemption from higher education antitrust laws. The universities had cited a 1994 federal education law known as Section 568, which allows need-blind private schools to collaborate with their competitors.
Need-blind colleges are schools that promise not to factor a student’s ability to pay tuition costs into admissions decisions.
The lawsuit claims the 17 colleges quietly base their awards on the ability of students to pay, violating the need-blind requirement for the antitrust exemption.