16 elite US schools have been charged with conspiracy to restrict students from applying for financial aid. File photo of Cornell University. (World Journal Reporter Zhang Zongzhi / Photography)

 (We Chinese in America Media Editor Tang Zhao, January 10, 2022) The Wall Street Journal reported on the 10th, including Yale University, Georgetown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Northwestern University, California Institute of Technology, and other 16 prestigious schools were accused of conspiring to restrict students from applying for financial aid.

The report pointed out that a law firm representing five alumni filed a lawsuit against 16 schools including Yale University in the Illinois federal court on the evening of the 9th, accusing the school of allegedly restricting students’ application for financial aid by monopoly and unfair means. The complaint states that when the defendant universities review financial aid applications, they take into account the student's ability to repay under certain conditions, so the school should not be exempt from antitrust laws.

In addition to their lawsuit, the five plaintiffs are asking the court to order an end to the practice of collusion among universities in calculating student aid applications.

The five plaintiffs' appointed lawyers said that over the past 18 years, a total of 170,000 university alumni who attended the 16 schools but received only partial financial aid are eligible to join the lawsuit.

Spokespeople for Columbia University, Cornell University, Northwestern University, the University of Pennsylvania and Rice University declined to comment on the lawsuit, the report said.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the attorneys who appointed them said that wealthy donors who had donated to schools received special treatment when their children applied for financial aid from some of the sued schools. The complaint states that some schools were sued to include student financial status when considering candidates for admission on the waiting list, and that the financial background of students applying for certain programs was also used as the review criteria for admission.

(Source: World Journal)