A broad federal lawsuit filed this week claims 16 of the most selective universities in the country conspired to raise their prices on students from poor or middle-class backgrounds. 

It’s a charge well-positioned to tap into the anger and confusion Americans feel toward the selectivity and cost of some of the nation’s top colleges. And it summons recollections of the Varsity Blues scandal, in which the rich and famous paid millions to bribe or cheat their kids’ way into highly selective and prestigious universities.