CATEGORY:
Private Education Matters
CLIENT TYPE:
Private Education
DATE: Oct 30, 2024
- Earlier this month, a class action antitrust lawsuit was filed against 40 selective U.S. colleges and universities, as well as the nonprofit College Board, for conspiring to overcharge certain students for tuition. The suit was filed by a current Boston University student and a Cornell alumnus, claiming that the tuition calculations for students who live with only one parent are unfair because they require both parents to submit financial information, even if one is a noncustodial parent who does not contribute to the student’s tuition. The lawsuit alleges that this structure increases tuition by an average of $6,200 per year per student. The plaintiffs are seeking $5 million in damages and a court order halting the consideration of noncustodial parental income in financial aid packages. The lawsuit also alleges that the College Board pressured colleges into adopting this framework back in 2006.
- On June 3, 2024, a Federal Court of Appeals ruled against the Fearless Fund, a venture capital firm with a nonprofit Foundation running a program called the “Strivers Grant Contest,” to provide $20,000 grants to businesses owned by Black women. Specifically, the Court of Appeals ruled that a preliminary injunction halting the program should be imposed pending a full legal challenge to the program’s race-based nature. The American Alliance for Equal Rights challenged the grant program, arguing that it violated section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act, a federal law prohibiting race discrimination in contracting. LCW previously covered this . Now, the Fearless Fund has agreed to settle the case and permanently end its grant program. By choosing to settle at this stage, the Fearless Fund limits the impact of the case to the 11th Circuit, which includes Alabama, Florida, and Georgia. An appeal to the Supreme Court could have had a nationwide legal impact.
- The University of California (UC) was recently sued by a former undocumented UCLA student and UCLA lecturer, alleging that UC has the authority to hire undocumented students to fill campus jobs, but its refusal to exercise that authority results in discrimination against thousands of students enrolled at campuses across the state. The complaint alleges that the UC Regents are relying on a mistaken interpretation of the Immigration Reform and Control Act, a federal law that prohibits the hiring of undocumented immigrants. The complaint alleges that the law does not apply to state government employers, and the impact is that students cannot pursue advanced degrees because they are unable to complete the necessary teaching or other employment requirements, like working a medical residency. In their petition, the complainants are seeking relief under two theories. The first, that UC’s policy is an abuse of discretion. The second, that the policy violates the Fair Employment and Housing Act’s prohibition on immigration status discrimination.
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