Federal Court Decision A Reminder Antitrust Laws Apply To Higher Education

Seventeen of U.S. News & World Report's top 25 universities in the nation recently lost their bid to dismiss allegations of an antitrust conspiracy to suppress student financial aid awards. The ruling by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois is notable because it held that the "568 Exemption," on which many universities' financial aid systems are based, does not provide antitrust immunity unless all participating universities admit their students on a need-blind basis. More broadly, it is a reminder that the antitrust laws apply to higher education, even public universities, and highlights the risk in relying on narrow exemptions to the antitrust laws in reaching agreements with competitors.