Forty elite private universities in the U.S. conspired to overcharge for tuition by including noncustodial parents’ assets in financial aid calculations, students allege in a new lawsuit.
The proposed class action, filed on Monday night in Chicago by a Boston University student and a Cornell University alum, targets Northwestern, Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, Cornell, Georgetown, and several other major schools.
The nonprofit College Board, which developed the financial aid methodology that the schools allegedly use, also faces inclusion as a defendant. The students’ attorneys claim that at least 20,000 prospective class members suffered harm due to the defendants’ coordinated actions. The lawsuit states, “Absent this agreement, the university defendants would have competed in offering financial aid to enroll their top candidates.”
The College Board, along with Cornell, Boston University, Northwestern, Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, and Georgetown, either declined to comment or did not respond to requests for comment. Other defendants, including California Institute of Technology, Columbia, New York University, Stanford, and Duke, also refrained from commenting.
“Paying for tuition is a hardship for almost every family, and this case seeks to remedy a price-fixing agreement that has raised the cost of college,” said Steve Berman, a lawyer for the plaintiffs.
The lawsuit claims that in 2006, the College Board “made an intentional push” to require schools to consider the income and assets of noncustodial parents when determining financial aid. All defendant schools require students to submit this information as part of their aid profiles. The plaintiffs argue that students pay thousands of dollars more at institutions that factor in noncustodial finances compared to those that do not.
The lawsuit seeks more than $5 million in monetary damages and a court order to halt the alleged pricing conspiracy. This antitrust case marks the second filed in Illinois federal court concerning financial aid practices at prominent U.S. colleges. A U.S. judge in Chicago has already approved $284 million in settlements with Columbia, Brown, the University of Chicago, and other institutions accused of favoring wealthy applicants for admission.
The case is Maxwell Hansen and Eileen Chang v. Northwestern University et al, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, No. 1:24-cv-09667.
