‘Please Admit’: Rampant donor preferences alleged in college financial aid lawsuit

USA TODAY

Zachary Schermele

December 18, 2024

A new court filing in a high-profile lawsuit shows how much of a leg up the children of donors may have in the college admissions process.

Emails and internal records from some of the nation’s most selective universities paint a picture of a system fraught with inequities and looser standards for applicants with rich parents.

The evidence submitted Monday marks a new phase in a legal battle over allegations that, for years, 17 of the country’s top schools violated antitrust laws by conspiring to reduce financial aid for less affluent students. A group of students first sued the schools in 2022. Their lawyers are now arguing that they and their peers were overcharged more than $685 million in an alleged conspiracy. Lawyers for the schools have called those calculations “junk science.”

A new court filing in a high-profile lawsuit shows how much of a leg up the children of donors may have in the college admissions process.

Emails and internal records from some of the nation’s most selective universities paint a picture of a system fraught with inequities and looser standards for applicants with rich parents.

The evidence submitted Monday marks a new phase in a legal battle over allegations that, for years, 17 of the country’s top schools violated antitrust laws by conspiring to reduce financial aid for less affluent students. A group of students first sued the schools in 2022. Their lawyers are now arguing that they and their peers were overcharged more than $685 million in an alleged conspiracy. Lawyers for the schools have called those calculations “junk science.”

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