Complex sentence: Many colleges have decided to buy from Alta Gracia Apparel although it remains in extreme competition with powerhouse brands such as Nike and Adidas, and accepted the higher costs in return for the ability to validate their support of fair trade.
Split into simpler sentences: Many colleges have decided to buy from Alta Gracia Apparel, although it still remains in competition with powerhouse brands such as Nike and Adidas. These universities have accepted the consequently higher costs in return for the opportunity to validate their support of fair trade.