A class action lawsuit is moving forward against 16 prominent universities, including Northwestern University and the University of Chicago, accusing them of holding back financial aid to students who qualified.

A federal judge on Monday denied several motions from the schools’ defense attorneys, seeking to dismiss the case.

The lawsuit, filed in February, accuses the schools of taking part in a price-fixing formula that reduced or eliminated financial aid.

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“No one can reasonably dispute whether universities have colluded, or whether they maintain policies favoring potential donors,” Matt Stoller, research director of the American Economic Liberties Project, an anti-monopoly group, wrote in a newsletter. He added: “Elite universities want to imagine themselves as meritocratic, though in fact they cater to the wealthy professional class and the billionaires who employ them.”