568 Group

In response to several prestigious colleges and universities holding "Overlap Meetings" to set similar tuition and financial aid levels, the Justice Department began an antitrust investigation in 1989 and in 1991 filed a Sherman Antitrust Act suit against 57 colleges and universities.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/08/10/us/price-fixing-inquiry-at-20-elite-colleges.html |title=Price-Fixing Inquiry at 20 Elite Colleges |work=The New York Times |date=August 10, 1989 |access-date=2008-12-16 |first=David |last=Johnston |archive-date=2012-11-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121109071110/http://www.nytimes.com/1989/08/10/us/price-fixing-inquiry-at-20-elite-colleges.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/13/education/23-colleges-won-t-pool-fiscal-data.html |title=23 College Won't Pool Discal Data |last=Chira |first=Susan |date=March 13, 1991 |access-date=2008-12-16 |work=The New York Times |archive-date=2012-11-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121109071233/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/13/education/23-colleges-won-t-pool-fiscal-data.html |url-status=live }} While the Ivy League institutions settled,{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/23/us/ivy-universities-deny-price-fixing-but-agree-to-avoid-it-in-the-future.html |title=Ivy Universities Deny Price-Fixing But Agree to Avoid It in the Future |work=The New York Times |last=DePalma |first=Anthony |date=May 23, 1991 |access-date=2008-12-16 |archive-date=2010-09-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100906100314/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/23/us/ivy-universities-deny-price-fixing-but-agree-to-avoid-it-in-the-future.html |url-status=live }} MIT contested the charges on the grounds that the practice was not anticompetitive because it prevented bidding wars over promising students from consuming funds for need-based scholarships and ensured the availability of aid for the greatest number of students.{{cite news |title=MIT Ruled Guilty in Anti-Trust Case |work=The New York Times |date=September 2, 1992 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/09/03/us/mit-ruled-guilty-in-antitrust-case.html |last=DePalma |first=Anthony |access-date=2008-07-16 |archive-date=2012-11-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107123002/http://www.nytimes.com/1992/09/03/us/mit-ruled-guilty-in-antitrust-case.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/26/us/price-fixing-or-charity-trial-of-mit-begins.html |title=Price-Fixing or Charity? Trial of M.I.T. Begins |last=DePalma |first=Anthony |date=June 26, 1992 |access-date=2008-08-13 |work=The New York Times |archive-date=2012-11-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121109071322/http://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/26/us/price-fixing-or-charity-trial-of-mit-begins.html |url-status=live }} MIT ultimately prevailed when the Justice Department settled the case in 1994.{{cite web |url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/1994/settlement-0105.html |title=Settlement allows cooperation on awarding financial-aid |publisher=MIT Tech Talk |year=1994 |access-date=2007-03-03 |archive-date=2008-06-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080630091228/http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/1994/settlement-0105.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/12/21/us/mit-suit-over-aid-may-be-settled.html |title=MIT Suit Over Aid May Be Settled |first=William |last=Honan |date=December 21, 1993 |access-date=2008-07-16 |work=The New York Times |archive-date=2011-02-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110209200258/http://www.nytimes.com/1993/12/21/us/mit-suit-over-aid-may-be-settled.html |url-status=live }}

In 1994, Congress passed the Improving America's Schools Act. Section 568 of this Act expands upon the issues in the MIT settlement. Section 568 states that is not unlawful under the antitrust laws for two or more need-blind institutions to agree or attempt to agree:

1. to award financial aid only on the basis of need;
2. to use common principles of analysis for determining need;
3. to use a common aid application form; and
4. to engage in a one-time exchange of certain pre-award data of commonly admitted financial aid students.

The amendment specifically prohibits the sharing of any information on the amount or terms of any prospective, individual aid award and makes clear that the exemption does not apply to the awarding of federal financial aid.

The following institutions were at one point members of the 568 group:{{cite web|title=568 Group Member Institutions|url=https://www.568group.org/home/?q=node/24|publisher=568 Presidents' Group|access-date=2 August 2022|year=2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220602150342/https://www.568group.org/home/?q=node/24|archive-date=2 June 2022}}{{cite web|title=568 Group Member Institutions|url=http://568group.org/membership/index.html|publisher=568 Presidents' Group|access-date=24 June 2015|year=2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141030082335/http://568group.org/membership/index.html|archive-date=30 October 2014|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}{{cite web|title=568 Cartel Lawsuit|url=https://568cartel.com/|publisher=Freedman, Normand and Friedland; Gilbert Litigators & Counselors; Berger Montague|access-date=March 3, 2023}}

{{div col|colwidth=25em}}

• Amherst College
• Boston College
• Brown University
• California Institute of Technology
• Claremont McKenna College
• College of the Holy Cross
• Columbia University
• Cornell University
• Dartmouth College
• Davidson College
• Duke University
• Emory University
• Georgetown University
• Grinnell College
• Haverford College
• Johns Hopkins University
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Middlebury College
• Northwestern University
• Pomona College
• Rice University
• St. John's College
• Swarthmore College
• University of Chicago
• University of Notre Dame
• University of Pennsylvania
• Vanderbilt University
• Wellesley College
• Williams College
• Yale University

{{div col end}}

These institutions have settled the 2022 price fixing class action lawsuit for the following amounts:{{cite web |last1=Williams |first1=Stephen |title=Judge approves $284M settlement with plaintiffs for 10 of 17 universities sued for alleged price fixing |url=https://whyy.org/articles/college-price-fixing-lawsuit-settlement-university-pennsylvania/ |website=WHYY |publisher=WHYY |access-date=30 July 2024}}

• Brown University - $19.5MM
• California Institute of Technology - $16.7MM{{Cite web |last=Moody |first=Josh |title=Johns Hopkins, Caltech Settle in Antitrust Lawsuit |url=https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2025/01/17/johns-hopkins-caltech-settle-antitrust-lawsuit |access-date=2025-01-21 |website=Inside Higher Ed |language=en}}
• Columbia University - $24MM{{cite web |last1=Levine |first1=Jesse |title=Court approves Columbia settlement for $24 million in class action financial aid lawsuit |url=https://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2024/07/31/court-approves-columbia-settlement-for-24-million-in-class-action-financial-aid-lawsuit/ |website=Columbia Spectator |access-date=6 August 2024}}
• Dartmouth College - $33.75MM
• Duke University - $24MM
• Emory University - $18.5MM
• Johns Hopkins University - $18.5MM
• Northwestern University - $43.5MM
• Rice University - $33.75MM
• University of Chicago - $13MM
• Vanderbilt University - $55MM
• Yale University - $18.5MM

{{reflist|2}}

• [http://568group.org/ Official website]

Category:College and university associations and consortia in the United States

Category:1998 establishments in the United States

Category:Organizations established in 1998

Category:2022 disestablishments in the United States

Category:Educational organizations disestablished in 2022