The lawsuit accuses Brown, Harvard and other elite universities of price-fixing for financial aid

PROVIDENCE – Forty private universities have been accused of conspiring to overcharge tuition by considering the financial backgrounds of non-custodial parents when determining financial aid packages, according to a new lawsuit filed by current and former students at elite colleges would have.

The class-action lawsuit, filed by a Boston University student and Cornell University graduates, was filed Monday evening in Chicago against Brown University, Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, Georgetown, Northwestern, Brandeis, Northeastern and dozens of other elite schools throughout the 18th century submitted states.

The lawsuit seeks more than $5 million in damages and an injunction to end the alleged price conspiracy.

Also named as a defendant was the College Board, the nonprofit organization that developed the financial aid method allegedly used by the schools. The organization manages and develops online profiles that help prospective college students apply for non-governmental financial aid and scholarships. According to the lawsuit, the nonprofit, founded in 1900, now has $1.69 billion in cash and investments.

The lawsuit alleges that institutions have engaged in a concerted effort to require non-custodial parents – typically the parent with whom the student did not live for most of the past year – to provide financial information to applicants applying for non-federal financial aid to demand. According to the lawsuit, these schools’ efforts to consider the income and assets of noncustodial parents began in 2006 and did not take into account the parents’ level of involvement in their child’s education.

The college board then asked schools to consider this amount when awarding financial aid, regardless of actual parental involvement or financial support. The lawsuit alleged that this increased annual tuition by about $6,200 compared to top schools that did not participate in the College Board’s agreement.

The lawsuit also alleged that the College Board’s efforts were directed by people who may have been involved with universities. For example, Harvard’s director of financial aid was also chairman of the College Board.

Hagens Berman, the law firm behind the lawsuit, said at least 20,000 potential class members were harmed by the defendants’ coordinated conduct.

“Paying college tuition is a burden for almost every family, and this case is about resolving a pricing fix that has increased the cost of college tuition,” Steve Berman, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said in a statement.

Representatives from Brown, Harvard, Boston University and Dartmouth did not immediately respond to a Globe request for comment.

“We have just received it and are reviewing it, but we are confident we will prevail in this lawsuit,” a College Board spokesperson told the Globe in a statement responding to the lawsuit.

“Those affected — primarily college applicants from divorced families — could never have predicted that this alleged system would exist and that students would receive less financial aid than they would in a fair market,” Berman said.

Alexa Gagosz can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her @alexagagosz and on Instagram @AlexaGagosz.