Republican lawmakers investigate Ivy League tuition prices

Congressional Republicans want to crack down on what they see as absurdly high tuition costs at Ivy League schools.

Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Scott Fitzgerald of Wisconsin and Sens. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Mike Lee of Utah have launched a federal investigation into alleged collusion and price gouging at these colleges.

The lawmakers, who chair various committees related to judiciary and anti-trust matters, requested documents from these schools, including communications between them about tuition prices and their admissions practices, Politico reports.

“We are particularly concerned that Ivy League member institutions appear to collectively raise tuition prices while engaging in price discrimination by offering selective financial aid packages to maximize profit,” the lawmakers wrote in a joint statement. “These institutions establish the industry standard for tuition pricing, creating an umbrella effect for all colleges and universities to justify higher tuition costs than they could otherwise charge in a competitive market. 

“The structure and operation of the higher education market strongly suggests the market is not functioning properly and is subject to widespread violations of antitrust laws.” 

All eight Ivy League schools are under investigation: Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, Princeton University, University of Pennsylvania and Yale University. 

Tuition at these schools for the 2024-2025 school year ranges from $56,550 at Harvard to $71,170 at Columbia. However, the estimated total cost of attendance ranged from $86,366 at Harvard to $93,417 at Columbia, according to Ivy Coach. 

The lawmakers allege the schools may be violating federal antitrust law with anti-competitive agreements, use of shared admissions algorithms and collusion with third-party entities used in the admissions process, such as the College Board and the Common Application. 

For months many of these same schools have been criticized for failing to curb antisemitism on their campuses. 

Under President Donald Trump, the federal Department of Education launched investigations into 60 colleges and universities for antisemitic discrimination and harassment last month. The list includes all of the Ivy League except for Dartmouth and UPenn, which is Trump’s alma mater. 

Notably, after the Trump administration announced it would withhold $400 million in federal funding from Columbia due to pro-Hamas protests on campus, the school announced it would make changes in hopes of preventing such actions moving forward.