Bowdoin is one of more than 30 colleges facing an antitrust lawsuit filed Friday. The school allegedly used Early Decision admissions to reduce competition and increase prices.
The lawsuit claims that the schools employ Early Decision to accept a substantial portion of its incoming class each year. Students accepted under the program must evaluate their offers before even applying to other institutions.
It alleges the practice violates antitrust laws because the institutions all agree not to compete for students admitted through Early Decision. This allows them to keep prices high because one of the main factors schools compete on is price.
The plaintiffs seek unspecified monetary damages for overcharges in tuition and to bar the use of Early Decision.
The lawsuit, which is seeking class action status, was filed in Boston by current and former students at three of the named institutions who applied through the Early Decision process.
The administrators of the Common and Coalition Applications and the Consortium on Financing Higher Education, an organization that facilitates information sharing between colleges, were also named as defendants.
Doug Cook, Bowdoin’s director of communications, said the college is aware of the lawsuit and stands by its admission practices.
This story appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.
