Republicans question Ivy League schools over potential price fixing collusion
The letter was sent by House and Senate Republicans to Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, Princeton University, University of Pennsylvania and Yale University.
The Republicans are concerned about alleged collusion and potential violations of antitrust laws to keep college prices up.
'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 letter reads.
The GOP lawmakers point to examples such as forcing students to stay on campus first year and get a meal plan, a lawsuit accusing the College Board of working with institutions to reduce financial aid availability for students and the Council of Ivy League Presidents holding meetings about admission practices.
The letter requests the schools produce documents since 2019 pertaining to communications with other higher education institutions and other college organizations such as College Board by April 22.
The letter was sent by House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio); Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa); Rep. Scott Fitzgerald (R-Wis.), chair of the House Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust Scott Fitzgerald (R-Wis.); and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy, and Consumer Rights.
'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 group wrote.
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