Judge says lawsuit accusing universities of inflating tuition can proceed 

A federal judge will let four current and former students move forward with a lawsuit accusing 32 elite universities of working together to raise tuition through early decision admissions.

U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley denied the universities’ request to dismiss the case on Aug. 7. Kelley serves on the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

The ruling does not mean the schools broke the law. The judge only had to decide whether the students made a sound legal claim. Kelley said they did.

Early decision admissions lets students apply to a school before the normal deadline. Students often have a better chance of getting into a school through this process. 

Yet, students must promise to attend the school if accepted and drop their other college applications. This keeps them from comparing tuition prices or financial aid offers before making a final choice.

The lawsuit claims the universities know an early decision promise is not a binding legal contract. However, the schools allegedly agreed among themselves to treat it like one. 

That alleged deal stops another college from offering an accepted student a lower price or a better financial aid package. The students say this lets schools charge more because the student has lost the power to walk away.

The case names schools such as Brown University, Cornell University, Duke University and Northwestern University.

The students brought the case under the Sherman Antitrust Act. That federal law prevents competing businesses from making deals that unfairly limit competition.

Kelley pointed to a joint Ivy League statement as direct support for the students’ claim.

“All Ivy League institutions will honor any required commitment to matriculate that has been made to another college under this plan,” the statement says.

The complaint also claims schools shared lists of students accepted through early decision. Other schools would then remove those students from their own applicant pools.

Kelley said the students gave enough facts to support the claim that the schools had a shared plan. The judge also said the schools had a financial reason to take part.

The universities argued that early decision helps students by giving them a better chance of admission. It also gives them an answer sooner.

However, Kelley said the possible benefits remain in dispute. She found that deciding whether those benefits outweigh the alleged harm would be “inappropriate to resolve at the pleading stage.”

The case comes as families face steep college bills.

Heartlander News reported in June about how the nation’s student loan debt was nearing $1.8 trillion. The average family saving for higher education had put aside $42,307.

Some Christian schools have taken a different path. Grand Canyon University has kept its base tuition at $16,500 for 18 straight years, Heartlander News reported in January. The school has grown without placing a larger tuition burden on students or taxpayers.