Pennsylvania
Lawsuit alleges Penn, other universities illegally favored students of wealthy families
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The University of Pennsylvania is one of nine schools still facing a lawsuit brought in 2022 that alleged that 17 of the nation’s most prestigious institutions colluded with each other to skew financial aid and college admissions for students from wealthy families.
In documents filed in the U.S. District Court in Illinois, lawyers for the plaintiffs alleged that the universities were part of the 568 Presidents Group that acted as a “cartel,” and conspired in a scheme to “price fix” financial aid and college admissions in violation of federal antitrust laws.
The lawyers for the plaintiffs, Gilbert Litigators & Counselors and Freedman Norman Friedland LLP, represent a group of several students who attended some of the universities.
In court papers, the lawyers said the shared information was used to artificially increase the price of tuition, plus fees for room and board at the schools. The lawyers said this practice benefited students from wealthy families that had made or were likely to make significant donations to them, to the detriment of the plaintiffs.
According to the class action lawsuit, about 200,000 students who attended the universities in a 20-year period were affected, potentially amounting to “billions of dollars.”
So far, eight of the universities have settled the charges, agreeing to pay at least $118 million to a fund for students who were harmed by the alleged scheme. One school, Vanderbilt University, declined to disclose the amount of its settlement.
In addition to the University of Pennsylvania, the remaining institutions facing legal action are California Institute of Technology, Cornell University, Dartmouth University, Georgetown University, Johns Hopkins University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northwestern University and the University of Notre Dame.
If they ultimately lose the case, John Lopatka, a law professor at Penn State University and antitrust scholar, said Penn and the other universities would likely face significant payouts.
“The stakes are certainly going up for any non-settling universities, as more and more universities settle,” Lopatka said. “The rule in antitrust cases in one of joint and several liability, which means that any non-settling defendant can be held liable for all of the damages caused by all of the conspirators. Hypothetically, if 10 are settled, and five go to trial and the plaintiff wins, then those five are liable for the damages of all 15.”
WHYY News reached out to the law firm WilmerHale, who is representing the University of Penn, for comment, but was unsuccessful.
In 2021, Penn had a total enrollment of about 28,000 and an endowment of $20.5 billion.
In January, five of the universities reached settlement agreements. Brown University agreed to pay $19.5 million; Columbia University and Duke University each agreed to pay $24 million; and Emory University and Yale University both agreed to pay $18.5 million. The settlements await the approval of U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly.
“It is past time for the presidents and governing bodies of the remaining defendants to stand up and do the right thing for their students and alumni, and resolve the overcharges to middle-class and working-class students that stemmed from the 20 years of collusion on financial aid by elite universities,” said Robert D. Gilbert, a partner at Gilbert Litigators & Counselors.
Ted Normand, a partner at Freedman Normand Friedland, and one of the lead counsel for the plaintiffs, said, “These settlements stand to be a significant benefit for the members of the proposed class, and we look forward to the Court’s resolution of our motion for preliminary approval.”
None of the schools that settled the charges admitted to any of the allegations. In fact, most said they settled the charges to avoid lengthy and costly litigation.
Warning: The details of this story are graphic and could be disturbing for some readers.
A Pennsylvania man pleaded guilty to stabbing his wife to death, officials announced on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, March 11, 2025, around 8:30 a.m., Bethlehem Township Police responded to a home on the 2100 block of 3rd Street in Easton, Pennsylvania, for a welfare check. A family member had told police they were concerned about the wellbeing of the people inside the house.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline by calling 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), visiting www.thehotline.org or texting LOVEIS to 22522.
The responding officers banged on the doors and windows, announcing their presence but no one answered. They then used a ladder to enter a second-floor window and were met by 58-year-old James Christopher Frank.
After opening the door for the officers, Frank led them into a bedroom and told them, “My wife is dead in the bathtub.” The officers entered the bathroom and found the body of Frank’s wife, 55-year-old Deborah Denise Glaser, in the tub. Glaser was facedown in the tub with multiple puncture wounds while her shirt was soaked in blood.
The officers also found knives, razor blades, box cutters and a mallet inside the bathroom.
Frank admitted to police that he cut his wife’s throat with a steak knife. He then told police he punctured his wife’s chest and heart with a knife and hammer around 10 times to make sure she was dead. He was then arrested and charged.
On Wednesday, June 10, 2026, Frank entered a guilty plea to the charge of first-degree murder. The mandatory sentence is life in prison. He is scheduled for sentencing on June 17, 2026.
Lawmakers in Pennsylvania are pushing for legislation that would require devices like smart glasses to visually indicate when they’re recording.
Joe Ciresi, a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and majority chair of the House Communications and Technology Committee, introduced a bill (known as House Bill 2603) that would require smart glasses manufactured, sold, and used in Pennsylvania to have a visual indicator when the device is recording audio or video.
According to a report by local news outlet abc27 News, Ciresi describes the bill’s provisions as “common-sense privacy safeguards for smart glasses to help protect Pennsylvanians from potential misuse of this emerging technology.”
There is currently no nationwide law in the U.S. requiring smart glasses to display a light or other indicator while recording. The proposed measure would affect only recording devices used in Pennsylvania.
House Bill 2603 would also require retailers to clearly inform users of Pennsylvania’s existing recording laws and to prevent users from disabling any visual indicator that shows the device is recording.
“Smart glasses are an innovative technological advancement, but their design also allows them to easily record or stream without anyone noticing,” Ciresi says. “Considering the implications this has for individual privacy and surveillance, we must take thoughtful, proactive steps to address those risks.”
Smart glasses have one obvious privacy concern: people can record others clandestinely. Most smart glasses currently on the market — including Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses — have indicator lights designed to show people nearby when a user is recording video or taking photos. However, there is currently no U.S.-wide requirement for manufacturers to include such features in devices. This newly introduced bill in Pennsylvania could change that by requiring smart glasses sold or used in the state to clearly show when audio or video recording is taking place.
Nonetheless, although Ray-Ban smart glasses show a blinking red light when recording, many people who are filmed for social media attention or otherwise say they do not realize they are being recorded.
Meta has also faced controversy over the company’s reported plans to introduce facial recognition technology into its Ray-Ban smart glasses, with a feature internally known as “Name Tag.” The news outlet WIRED discovered dormant code for the facial recognition system in Meta’s companion app for its line of Ray-Ban smart glasses, leading the company to quietly delete the software a day later.
Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.
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