40 Elite Colleges Face Lawsuit Over Financial Aid Practices for Divorced Parents

A class action lawsuit alleges these institutions conspired to inflate tuition costs by factoring in noncustodial parents' finances.

The lawsuit, filed in Illinois, accuses 40 prestigious colleges of colluding to overcharge students with divorced parents by using the CSS Profile to consider noncustodial parents' financial assets.
The plaintiffs, including a Boston University student and a former Cornell student, claim this practice has unfairly reduced financial aid for about 20,000 students over 18 years.
The College Board, responsible for the CSS Profile, is named as a defendant, with allegations that it pushed for the inclusion of noncustodial financial information starting in 2006.
The lawsuit seeks over $5 million in damages and a court injunction to halt the alleged anticompetitive practices, arguing it has increased tuition costs by an average of $6,200.
Several universities and the College Board have dismissed the lawsuit's claims, asserting confidence in prevailing against the allegations.