Thread by @matthewstoller

The Ivy League is a cartel. Like an actual cartel. wsj.com/articles/yale-…

At my newsletter BIG @samhaselby went into the historical roots of the cartel behavior of the Ivy League network. But yeah they also engage in straight-up price-fixing, which we've known for decades. mattstoller.substack.com/p/break-up-the…

This is a fun complaint on the Ivy's. "In addition, such Defendants are committed to maintaining admissions as a zero- sum game, by limiting growth in the number of undergraduate seats to maximize perceptions of exclusivity and prestige." @profgalloway

"At Dartmouth, development officers meet with admissions staff to review a list created by the development office. Each year, up to 50 applicants may be considered through this special process, most of whom are admitted, accounting for 4-5% of Dartmouth’s student body."

This is gross and much worse than the Varsity Blues college admissions scandal. Here's the CEO of Sony offering $1M to an Ivy to accept his daughter. Billionaire Leon Black tried to get the money for Dartmouth, but she went to Brown instead. And so did the one million dollars.

Georgetown Dean of admissions: “On the fundraising side, we also have a small number of ‘development potential’ candidates. If Bill Gates wants his kid to come to Georgetown, we’d be more than happy to have him come and talk to us.” And that's not the worst quote...

"...not all those special cases end up being people who give a lot of money. We have children of Supreme Court justices, senators, and so on apply. We may give extra consideration to them because of the opportunities that may bring.”😳

I put the complaint onto Dropbox. dropbox.com/s/93xzkyo6e2m0…

"In targeting Class Members through the institution’s alumni magazine, for example, Dartmouth claimed in 2015 that rising tuition prices could be explained because “[j]ust as lattes cost more these days, so do markers and whiteboards and keeping the lights on."

"Competition in the Market for Elite, Private Universities is constrained by extremely strong brand preferences and high barriers to entry. Such institutions limit the supply of available seats, which has the effect of generating scarcity and enhancing their prestige."

A cartel of universities seeking to accept the children of the wealthy and powerful "does not have any pro-competitive impacts."

Also it excludes judges from the class of harmed parties.

😂😂😂

This complaint is a troll of elite America.

The gist is that Ivy league schools were given an exemption by Congress to collude on prices as long as they all agreed to be 'need-blind' in admission, meaning you get a scholarship if you need it. Accepting the wealthy and powerful meant they were not need-blind.

None of this is a surprise, of course. Everyone knows that elite universities treat the wealthy and powerful differently. It's just that lying about it in collusion with other elite liars opens them up to legal liability.

I wrote up the complaint. mattstoller.substack.com/p/ivy-league-c…