Bowdoin College is one of more than 30 higher education schools named in a class-action lawsuit claiming the schools’ use an early admission program to jack up tuition costs.
The suit accuses the schools, which are known to be highly selective and competitive, of conspiring to dangle early admission at inflated costs.
It claims students are lured into early decision programs because they’re known to have much higher rates of admission than the regular application process.
The lawsuit claims Bowdoin is among the schools known to have elite status which is taking part in the Early Decisions process.
The Brunswick college is named in the lawsuit along with several Ivy League schools and well known institutions such as Northwestern, Rice and Johns Hopkins universities.
The suit accuses the schools of sharing information in their implementation of early admissions programs
It also claims the schools are tricking applicants by presenting Early Decision agreements as legal contracts when they are actually not legally binding
The students are compelled to withdraw all applications made to any other schools if offered admission through the Early Decision process.
The lawsuit refers to the scheme as an “Early Decision Conspiracy.”
The suit was filed in federal court in Boston on Friday.
