The eight Ivy League schools were sued for price-fixing over their longstanding ban on athletic scholarships.
(Bloomberg) — The eight Ivy League schools were sued for price-fixing over their longstanding ban on athletic scholarships.
In a proposed class action filed Tuesday in federal court in Connecticut, a group of current and former Brown University student-athletes said the ban restrained competition among schools. They claimed the so-called Ivy League Agreement violated federal antitrust law.
“Out of the over 350 colleges and universities whose students participate in Division 1 athletics, only the University Defendants refuse to provide any athletic scholarships or other compensation/reimbursement for athletic services,” the suit says.
Representatives for the Ivy League universities couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
The Ivy League and other elite universities were similarly sued last year for price-fixing when it comes to financial-aid packages. The US Justice Department in July filed a “statement of interest” in that case, saying that “an agreement on the methodology used to calculate need-based financial aid offers eliminates an important dimension of price competition among schools.”
The case is Choh v. Brown University, 23-cv-305, US District Court, District of Connecticut.
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