Good morning, and welcome to Wednesday, December 18. Rick Seltzer wrote today’s Briefing. Julia Piper compiled Comings and Goings. Get in touch: dailybriefing@chronicle.com.

Trust busting

New documents filed in a price-fixing lawsuit suggest higher ed faces dangers in the court of public opinion, if nowhere else.

A small group of selective colleges had dirty laundry aired by a price-fixing lawsuit this week. Documents and testimony from leaders make it look like they favored wealthy applicants even though they publicly claimed to admit students without considering financial need, The Washington Post reported.

• “Please admit,” read notes that frequently appeared atop annual lists of applicants sent by a former Georgetown University president.
• The list was allegedly crafted with information about family wealth and past donations, but not applicants’ academic information.
• Georgetown needed to “do a better job of enlisting the support of America’s wealthiest families and corporations” because it was underendowed, according to a memo cited in the court filings. “Special interest admits should provide this type of opportunity to enhance and strengthen our future.”

The allegations come from a lawsuit that’s been grinding on since 2022. Former students sued 17 selective institutions, claiming they colluded as members of the 568 Presidents Group to limit financial-aid packages. That group allowed colleges to coordinate under a 1990s antitrust exemption only if its members operated under need-blind admissions policies. (The antitrust exemption expired in 2022.)

Plaintiffs claim students were overcharged by $685 million because the colleges colluded when they shouldn’t have. Federal law would triple the damages to about $2 billion, should the colleges lose the case.

The defendant colleges have denied wrongdoing. They’ve said the $685-million estimate is based on flawed data, sought to have the case dismissed, and pointed out that they spent hundreds of millions of dollars on financial aid. A Georgetown spokeswoman told The Post the institution disagrees with the plaintiffs’ claims and believes it has acted responsibly.

But 10 have settled so far. They agreed to pay a total of $284 million to avoid further litigation, even as they maintain the case is meritless.

The price-fixing lawsuit is just one of several antitrust cases targeting different corners of higher ed in recent years. Among them:

• Academic journals: A lawsuit filed this year alleges that major academic journals colluded to avoid paying peer reviewers, and to keep researchers from shopping submissions between different publications.
• Athletics: A settlement awaiting final approval would institute a new era of athletics pay-for-play after former athletes in 2020 charged the National Collegiate Athletic Association with conspiring to keep players from being compensated.
• Admissions (again): The College Board and 40 private institutions were this year accused of colluding to raise prices by agreeing to consider the finances of noncustodial parents.

Why does this keep happening? Experts interviewed by the Daily Briefing interpreted these cases in different ways, so we’ll leave the courts to sort through their merits. But here are factors that potentially contribute to the drumbeat of lawsuits:

• College leaders are squeamish about competition: “It has been my observation as a university professor that university administrators tend to have a cartel-like mentality,” Stephen F. Ross, a professor of law and executive director of the Penn State Center for the Study of Sports in Society, told the Daily Briefing. “Colleges keep adopting rules for sincere public-policy reasons because they think competition is not in the public interest.”
• Lawyers see opportunity: “Plaintiffs’ attorneys are among the most clever and smartest people in the country,” Tres Cleveland, a partner at the law firm Thompson Coburn LLP, told the Daily Briefing. “When they see an opening, they are going to look at it.”

The bigger picture: Colleges might want to review their antitrust risks in this environment. Each case that’s filed could mean a big settlement or more dirty laundry on the line.

Quick hits

• More cuts at Columbia College Chicago: Six months after it laid off 70 staff members, the private institution is still grappling with enrollment declines and budget deficits. Leaders announced plans to eliminate 11 undergraduate and graduate programs next year, consolidate more programs, and cut 25 faculty positions. Undergraduate-degree programs would drop from 58 to 33 as leaders say they seek to focus on the demands of industry, parents, and students. (Chicago Tribune)
• California orders bible college closed: Olivet University was ordered to stop new enrollment and help existing students transfer after California regulators said they found few students on campus, inadequate documentation, and instruction lacking rigor. University leaders promised to appeal, charging that the state’s investigation was racially and religiously prejudiced. The order comes after New York regulators yanked operating approval from the Olivet University system’s campus in that state in 2022, and after leaders in September denied allegations that the institution prevented people from leaving the campus in California and forced them to do unpaid work. (Los Angeles Times, The Chronicle, Olivet University)
• Labor deal at CUNY: The City University of New York’s trustees approved a tentative five-year agreement with the union representing more than 30,000 full- and part-time faculty and staff members. The deal, which covers 2023 to 2027, calls for retroactive and future wage increases totaling 13.37 percent, boosts paid parental leave, and raises pay for adjunct lecturers. (CUNY)
• States awarded more student financial aid in 2023: States awarded nearly $16.6 billion in 2022-23, a time of flush state budgets. That’s up 11.4 percent from the prior year, or an increase of 4.3 percent after adjusting for inflation, according to an annual report that tabulates state financial-aid expenditures. More than $8 of every $10 went out as grants. (National Association of State Student Grant and Aid Programs)
• New Commission on the American Workforce: The Bipartisan Policy Center started the commission on Monday, outlining four work groups focused on K-12 education, postsecondary education, the work force, and supports for workers. The organization specifically cited concerns about stagnating college enrollment, worries about higher ed’s value, and alternative pathways. Leaders hope the commission’s recommendations could influence congressional legislation, like reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. (Bipartisan Policy Center)
• Jill Biden’s instruction job is over: The first lady said she taught her last class at Northern Virginia Community College last week. Biden taught English and writing at the institution for 15 years, starting in 2009 after her husband was elected vice president and continuing through his presidency. (Associated Press)

Stat of the day

$1,000

That’s how much Ohio State University is charging for an indoor tailgate ticket before it hosts the University of Tennessee at Knoxville on Saturday in a College Football Playoff game.

The tailgate’s price tag does not include a seat at the game on Saturday, though you can’t attend the tailgate without buying a game ticket. The tailgate does, however, include sideline access before the game, The Columbus Dispatch reported.

Comings and goings

• Edward J. Feser, provost and executive vice president at Oregon State University, has been named president of Saint Louis University.
• Amy Thompson, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Wright State University, in Ohio, has been named executive vice president for academic affairs and provost at Oakland University, in Michigan.
• Stephanie Santorico, interim dean of the College of Architecture and Planning at the University of Colorado at Denver, has been named dean of the College of Sciences at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
• Jeremy Moreland, president of William Woods University, in Missouri, will step down in January.

To submit a new-hire announcement, email people@chronicle.com.

Footnote

Here’s a quick note of appreciation for Amy Kristof-Brown, dean of the University of Iowa’s Tippie College of Business. Every year she sends hundreds of handwritten holiday cards to advisory-board members, emeritus faculty members, employees, other deans, donors, prospective donors, and the like.

This year’s list numbered 537. Don’t believe me? Look again at the image above, which Kristof-Brown submitted, and which shows her cards upon cards, ready to ship out.

“I view a large part of my job as relationship-building, and that’s what holiday cards afford you the opportunity to do,” she said. “There is no shortcut to personally interacting with someone, even if that’s through correspondence.”

Printed images of her signature simply won’t do. When she started the job, Kristof-Brown tried a digital signature on notes to smaller donors. She received a return message from one who said his gift might not have been large, but it was meaningful to him. Since then, she said she’s personally insisted on inking her own name.

This is not a habit she developed on her own.

“My parents always taught me to write thank-you notes,” Kristof-Brown said. “My children still write handwritten thank-you notes.”

About three pens are exhausted with each year’s batch of holiday cards. Also sacrificed is the quality of Kristof-Brown’s penmanship.

“It’s definitely worse if you’re No. 537 on the holiday-card list,” she said.

And of course, at the end of our interview, she offered to add me to the list of recipients.