111 elite colleges and universities have been implicated for allegedly violating the Higher Education Act by wrongfully charging students a fee for a certain financial aid form.
According to the Huffington Post, rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) notified U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan in a letter that the form is not even necessary. Cummings, a ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, reviewed more than 200 schools and found about half to be in violation of the Higher Education Act.
Developed by the College Board, the form is called the CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE and it used to determine how much financial aid an institution or state government must reward. The form costs a minimum $25, but the Free Application for Federal Student Aid can determine financial aid without the fee.
Cummings wrote to Duncan alleging 58 of the schools told applicants the PROFILE form was needed "in order to secure any type of financial aid, including federal student aid." He said the other 53 schools told applicants to "submit both the FAFSA and the PROFILE to obtain federal financial aid, although they do not clarify what each form is used to assess."
Among the list is every Ivy League school except Princeton and other top schools like NYU, Harvey Mudd, Duke, Syracuse, UPenn, Notre Dame, TCU and more.
"As a result of this review, it appears that 111 schools may be contravening the requirements of the Higher Education Act by explicitly requiring applicants to submit forms other than the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or by failing to make clear that only the FAFSA is required to be considered for federal student aid," Cummings wrote.
"Instead, these institutions appear to be establishing additional requirements for students to complete costly additional forms, including the fee-based PROFILE form developed by the College Board, to be considered for any financial aid. Congress banned this practice in 1992 because it creates undue hurdles for students seeking federal student aid."
Cummings identified Bard and USC as "schools that provide clear and correct guidance to financial aid applicants." He also requested a meeting with Duncan to discuss how to get more schools to proactively help their students with financial aid instead of creating more obstacles in their academic path.