Slightly more than a year after the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art announced its plan to charge tuition, a group of professors, admitted students and alumni filed a lawsuit in New York State Supreme Court on Tuesday against the school's board of trustees.

The plaintiffs' aim: to stop the school from introducing tuition next fall and to prompt a court investigation into how the board has managed school finances.

The plaintiffs—a group called the Committee to Save Cooper Union Inc.—are represented by the law firm Emery, Celli, Brinckerhoff, & Abady, which has previously litigated high-profile cases seeking to halt city plans at places including the High Line and the Atlantic Yards.