Lawsuit Claims 40 Elite Colleges Overcharge Students from Divorced Families
This latest lawsuit follows another major antitrust case that brought in hundreds of millions in potential damages for countless former college students.
A new antitrust lawsuit has been filed, accusing some of the richest colleges in the United States of charging excessive fees to students whose parents are divorced or separated.
This federal class action, initiated in an Illinois district court, targets 40 private colleges – including notable institutions such as Harvard, Yale, MIT, and Stanford. The lawsuit alleges that these universities colluded to keep costs high for students with “noncustodial parents.”
To apply for non-federal financial aid, students are required to fill out the CSS Profile, managed by the College Board, which is also responsible for the SAT and Advanced Placement programs across the country.
Through this application, students must reveal the financial details of their noncustodial parents. In the suit, a student from Boston University and a former student from Cornell state that this requirement reduced the financial aid available to them and others.
Steve Berman, one of the attorneys for the students, remarked that they have identified a “significant factor” contributing to the increasing costs associated with college education.
“The individuals impacted – primarily those from divorced households – were unaware of this alleged scheme, ultimately receiving less financial assistance than they might have in an equitable market,” Berman expressed.
This case follows an unrelated class action lawsuit involving many of the same schools over claims of price-fixing in financial aid, which resulted in a $284 million settlement this year. Students from those universities may be entitled to receive large refunds from that settlement.
On Wednesday, the College Board stated that it is confident it will win the current case.
John Beckman, a spokesperson for New York University, described the lawsuit as baseless in a statement.
“NYU plans to vigorously defend its financial aid practices,” he stated.
Cornell University, Northeastern University, Northwestern University, Columbia University, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Tufts University, MIT, Duke University, Brandeis University, and Georgetown University chose not to comment on the lawsuit on Wednesday. Other institutions did not provide immediate responses to requests for comment.
