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A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit accusing 40 universities and the College Board of coordinating a financial-aid policy involving divorced students’ noncustodial parents. In September 2025, U.S. District Judge Sara L. Ellis found the complaint did not plausibly allege that the university defendants shared their internal aid practices or agreed to use one formula. The claims were allegations, not established findings, and the available sources do not establish whether an appeal followed.
What the lawsuit alleged
Filed in federal court in Illinois in October 2024, the proposed class action was brought by a Cornell University alumnus and a Boston University student against 40 colleges and the College Board. It focused on the CSS Profile, a financial-aid application used by many institutions to assess eligibility for institutional aid. The complaint named schools including USC, MIT and NYU; the report on the filing said defendants included institutions whose employees helped develop the policy, adopted it or required noncustodial-parent financial information. It did not reproduce the complete list of 40 defendants. The Washington Post’s 2024 report on the filing describes the case.
The complaint alleged that a policy developed in 2006 included the assets of a student’s noncustodial parent when assessing financial need, even if that parent did not support the student. Plaintiffs argued that counting both parents’ finances could make a family appear able to pay more than it could in practice, potentially reducing institutional aid. Those were plaintiffs’ claims about the policy’s effects; the court did not find that the universities conspired to reduce aid.
The complaint estimated that at least 20,000 prospective class members had been affected over 18 years. That number was an estimate pleaded by the plaintiffs, not a certified class size or a finding by the court. The available reporting does not establish a separate, independently verified damages total for this case.
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Why the judge dismissed the case
In September 2025, Judge Ellis dismissed the complaint, concluding that its allegations did not plausibly describe the kind of coordination the claims required. As The Washington Post reported on September 25, 2025, Ellis wrote that the complaint did not suggest the university defendants exchanged their internal financial-aid decision-making processes or told one another how much aid they planned to offer particular students. She also said the complaint did not allege that the universities agreed on “the same exact formula” for calculating aid based on noncustodial-parent information.
The distinction matters: alleging that institutions used or required similar information is not, by itself, proof that they exchanged confidential aid practices or agreed on a common formula. The dismissal addressed the plausibility of the complaint’s allegations; it should not be described as a factual finding that every institution’s aid policy was fair or identical.
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How the CSS Profile noncustodial-parent requirement works
CSS Profile requirements are not universal. College Board’s 2027–28 participating-institutions page identifies whether a participating institution or program requires noncustodial-parent information. A student should check the current instructions for each college on their list rather than assume that completing the CSS Profile always means both parents must submit information.
For families dealing with separation, divorce or limited contact with a noncustodial parent, the practical issue is the individual college’s process and requirements. Consult the college’s financial-aid office and current application guidance to learn whether the information is required and what steps are available if obtaining it is difficult. The existence of this lawsuit does not itself change an institution’s CSS Profile requirements.
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- 2006: The complaint alleged that the challenged approach to noncustodial-parent assets was developed.
- October 2024: The Cornell alumnus and Boston University student filed the proposed class action against 40 colleges and the College Board.
- September 2025: Judge Ellis dismissed the case, citing the complaint’s failure to plausibly allege exchanges of internal aid practices or an agreement on one formula.
The available sources do not establish whether the plaintiffs appealed or whether there has been a later docket decision. Accordingly, the dismissal is the established outcome reported here, but the case should not be called definitively over without checking the current court docket.
How this case differs from other college-aid lawsuits
This CSS Profile case is separate from Henry v. Brown University, a 2022 lawsuit involving 16 universities and allegations of coordination over financial-aid methodologies. It is also distinct from later litigation alleging coordination through early-decision practices. Their defendants, challenged conduct and procedural histories differ; outcomes or figures from one case should not be attributed to another. The Washington Post’s dismissal coverage distinguishes the CSS Profile case from the other financial-aid litigation.
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What the universities said
In 2024, NYU spokesperson John Beckman said, “This lawsuit has no merit and NYU intends to vigorously defend itself and its financial aid policies and procedures,” according to The Washington Post’s report on the filing. That statement represented NYU’s position when the suit was filed, not a court finding.
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