Chairmen Jordan, Grassley, Fitzgerald, and Lee Demand Information from Ivy League Schools on Potential Collusion in Tuition Pricing
April 10, 2025
WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH), Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI), and Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights Mike Lee (R-UT) sent letters to Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, Princeton University, University of Pennsylvania, and Yale University seeking documents and communications regarding the Ivy League institutions' apparent collusion to raise tuition prices.
The House and Senate Committees are concerned that the Ivy League member institutions' coordinated practices and alleged collusion violate the Sherman Act and that the institutions continue to benefit from their prior collusion, despite no longer having an antitrust exemption. 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.
For example:
The House and Senate Committees are concerned that the Ivy League member institutions' coordinated practices and alleged collusion violate the Sherman Act and that the institutions continue to benefit from their prior collusion, despite no longer having an antitrust exemption. 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.
For example:
- Despite consumer demand for college drastically increasing and massive endowments that grow yearly, elite institutions continue to limit output and drive prices higher.
- The Council of Ivy League Presidents holds meetings to standardize the admissions process among Ivy League member institutions, which can have the effect of setting standards for the rest of the higher education market.
- The College Board, a nonprofit membership organization that provides higher education services, allegedly facilitated collusion among universities to reduce financial aid available to students, according to one ongoing lawsuit.
- The Common Application, a nonprofit membership organization that provides standard college application services to more than 1,000 higher education institutions, allegedly facilitated collusion among universities to charge a higher application fee than they otherwise could in a competitive market, according to one lawsuit.
- U.S. News and World Report's college rankings provide a mechanism for elite colleges and universities to influence standards that drive output down and prices up.
- The widespread use of enrollment management software (EMS) and nonpublic algorithms for admissions and financial aid by colleges and universities indicates that these institutions have the ability to engage in algorithmic collusion.
- Institutions' use of binding early decision programs may eliminate students’ ability to receive and compare competing financial aid offers.
- Directors or trustees concurrently serving on the boards of multiple higher education institutions or other organizations such as the College Board or U.S. News create conflicts of interest.
- Institutions requiring students to purchase on-campus housing and meal-plan packages in addition to course tuition after they have secured students' enrollment for the year undermines consumer choice and restricts competition in secondary markets.
- Lack of clarity regarding how higher education institutions calculate and allocate the funding for indirect costs in federally funded research projects suggest a lack of competition for public funding among colleges and universities.
Read the full letter to Brown University here.
Read the full letter to Columbia University here.
Read the full letter to Cornell University here.
Read the full letter to Dartmouth College here.
Read the full letter to Harvard University here.
Read the full letter to Princeton University here.
Read the full letter to University of Pennsylvania here.
Read the full letter to Yale University here.
Read the full letter to Columbia University here.
Read the full letter to Cornell University here.
Read the full letter to Dartmouth College here.
Read the full letter to Harvard University here.
Read the full letter to Princeton University here.
Read the full letter to University of Pennsylvania here.
Read the full letter to Yale University here.
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