(KRON) — Stanford University was recently included on a list of America’s top private schools, but this time, it wasn't exactly for its quality of education.  A class action suit filed on Monday alleges that Stanford – along with 40 other elite U.S. schools, including Brown University and USC – have been price-fixing their applications on the College Board’s application website, subsequently negatively impacting applicants with divorced parents.  “Those affected — mostly college applicants from divorced homes — could never have foreseen that this alleged scheme was in place, and students are left receiving less financial aid than they would in a fair market,” said Steve Berman, managing partner for the law firm that filed suit.  SF school district to announce mergers and closures According to the lawsuit, those applying to Stanford through the College Board were required to submit their noncustodial parent’s financial information “even if a divorce court order was issued concerning college expenses,” the lawsuit said in part.  The lawsuit says this alleged price-fixing increased the cost of tuition by approximately $6,200 compared to top schools that did not participate in this requirement. The most popular form of financial aid in the nation, FAFSA, does not require students to submit each of their parents’ financial information if they were divorced.  Here’s an example of how this would typically happen, per the lawsuit: Consider a FAFSA school that costs $35,000 and a Profile school that costs $75,000… This student’s custodial parent is unmarried, earns a modest income and rents a home. Her noncustodial parent earns a high income, is remarried to a high earner and owns a home. The FAFSA school counts only the income of the custodial parent. The CSS Profile counts the income of the custodial parent, the noncustodial parent and the stepparent. FAFSA calculates the family contribution at $10,000, which the CSS Profile calculates it at $50,000. 2024-10-07-complaintDownload The lawsuit applies to any student or custodial parent of a college student who has not received federal financial aid since 2006. The same law firm filed suit against the College Board in 2006, and 75 of the reported 250 schools with the requirement on the application website agreed to scrap it.  The Washington Post reported that 45 million Americans have debt from student loans totaling more than $1.7 trillion, and studies cited in the lawsuit link high levels of student loan debt to poor college performance, anxiety and depression. KRON4 has contacted Stanford University for comment and has yet to hear back.