BOSTON – Eight private colleges in Massachusetts are among 40 top universities named in a class action lawsuit financial assistance practices. Prosecutors allege the schools engaged in a “price-fixing conspiracy” that made tuition more expensive for students with separated or divorced parents.
The lawsuit alleges that since 2006, the nonprofit College Board has pushed schools to consider the income and assets of non-custodial parents from a student’s CSS profile when determining financial aid awards. That resulted in students from those family situations paying an average of about $6,200 more for college, the lawsuit says, compared to schools that use the Free Application for Federal Student Aid known as FAFSA.
Colleges named in financial aid class action lawsuit
Brandeis University, Harvard University, MIT, Northeastern University, Tufts University, WPI, Boston College and Boston University are the Massachusetts schools named in the lawsuit. Other major institutions being sued include Stanford University, Yale University, Brown University, New York University, Dartmouth College and Georgetown University.
One of the plaintiffs, Maxwell Hansen, is currently a student at Boston University after transferring from American University. According to the lawsuit, he receives $20,000 in student aid from BU but pays “artificially high prices… due to Defendants’ anticompetitive practices.”
“The financial burden of college cannot be overstated in today’s world, and we believe our antitrust attorneys have uncovered a major impact on the rising costs of higher education,” lawsuit petitioner Steve Berman said in a statement. “Those affected – especially college students from segregated homes – could never have anticipated that this alleged scheme was in place, and that students are receiving less financial support than they would receive in a fair market.”
The College Board said in a statement to WBZ-TV that it has just been notified of the lawsuit and is reviewing it, “but we are confident that we will prevail in this action.”
WBZ-TV has also contacted Boston University for comment.
