Future of Division III

[Ron Boerger]

A lawsuit has been filed in federal court accusing 32 elite colleges of conspiring to inflate prices through the early decision process.  The list encompasses primarily well-known Division III schools: Amherst College, Barnard College, Bowdoin College, Brown University, Bryn Mawr College, Carleton College, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Duke University, Emory University, Haverford College, Johns Hopkins University, Macalester College, Middlebury College, Mount Holyoke College, Northwestern University, Oberlin College, Pomona College, Rice University, Smith College, Swarthmore College, Trinity College, University of Chicago, University of Pennsylvania, University of Rochester, Vanderbilt University, Vassar College, Washington University in St. Louis, Wellesley College, Wesleyan University, and Williams College.  Also named as defendants, in what the complaint calls an "early decision conspiracy," are the Consortium on Financing Higher Education, an organization of highly selective colleges that shares information on admissions and financial aid, along with the Common Application and Scoir Inc., two college admissions platforms used by the schools.

[Etchglow]

A lawsuit has been filed in federal court accusing 32 elite colleges of conspiring to inflate prices through the early decision process.  The list encompasses primarily well-known Division III schools: Amherst College, Barnard College, Bowdoin College, Brown University, Bryn Mawr College, Carleton College, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Duke University, Emory University, Haverford College, Johns Hopkins University, Macalester College, Middlebury College, Mount Holyoke College, Northwestern University, Oberlin College, Pomona College, Rice University, Smith College, Swarthmore College, Trinity College, University of Chicago, University of Pennsylvania, University of Rochester, Vanderbilt University, Vassar College, Washington University in St. Louis, Wellesley College, Wesleyan University, and Williams College.  Also named as defendants, in what the complaint calls an "early decision conspiracy," are the Consortium on Financing Higher Education, an organization of highly selective colleges that shares information on admissions and financial aid, along with the Common Application and Scoir Inc., two college admissions platforms used by the schools.

Actual filing out from behind the paywall:

https://www.cohenmilstein.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Complaint-DAmico-v-Consortium-on-Financing-Higher-Education-August-8-2025.pdf


Also, archive.org link to the article:
https://web.archive.org/web/20250811220031/https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2025/08/08/college-admissions-early-decision-price-fixing-lawsuit/

[Kuiper]

A lawsuit has been filed in federal court accusing 32 elite colleges of conspiring to inflate prices through the early decision process.  The list encompasses primarily well-known Division III schools: Amherst College, Barnard College, Bowdoin College, Brown University, Bryn Mawr College, Carleton College, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Duke University, Emory University, Haverford College, Johns Hopkins University, Macalester College, Middlebury College, Mount Holyoke College, Northwestern University, Oberlin College, Pomona College, Rice University, Smith College, Swarthmore College, Trinity College, University of Chicago, University of Pennsylvania, University of Rochester, Vanderbilt University, Vassar College, Washington University in St. Louis, Wellesley College, Wesleyan University, and Williams College.  Also named as defendants, in what the complaint calls an "early decision conspiracy," are the Consortium on Financing Higher Education, an organization of highly selective colleges that shares information on admissions and financial aid, along with the Common Application and Scoir Inc., two college admissions platforms used by the schools.

My understanding is that quite a high percentage of early decision applicants to small Liberal Arts Colleges are athletes, so this is more directly related to athletics than just involving many DIII schools.  If the allegations are true, it is another way in which college sports at the DIII level can be "pay to play" in the opposite direction of the pay to play that now exists after the House settlement at the DI level.

On a less serious note, can you really call yourself a NESCAC school if you aren't on that list?