The eight schools that make up the Ivy League engage in illegal price-fixing by not awarding athletic scholarships, alleges a lawsuit filed Tuesday by current and former Brown University basketball players.
While all Division I athletic programs award financial aid to selected athletes, Brown, Harvard, Yale and the other Ivies have for years agreed to provide only need-based financial aid to students, including athletes. According to the suit, the agreement violates federal antitrust law, and harms recruited athletes who otherwise could have gotten scholarships covering tuition and fees, or been eligible for reimbursement on thousands of dollars of other school-related expenses under National Collegiate Athletic Association regulations.
The suit names as defendants all eight Ivy League schools and the Ivy League Council of Presidents, which coordinates Ivy League athletics. It was filed in federal court in Connecticut, with a former men’s basketball player and current women’s basketball player at Brown as the named plaintiffs.