MIT Inks Largest Settlement in College Retirement Plan Lawsuits

Massachusetts Institute of Technology will pay $18.1 million to settle a class action claiming it charged excessive retirement plan fees and enriched itself through an overly-cozy relationship with Fidelity Investments, MIT workers told a federal judge in Boston.

The proposed settlement is the largest announced to date in the litigation series challenging how prominent universities manage their retirement plans. Similar deals have been struck by Vanderbilt University ($14.5 million), Johns Hopkins University ($14 million), Duke University ($10.65 million), the University of Chicago ($6.5 million), and Brown University ($3.5 million).

The deal, announced in court papers filed Oct. 28, is ...