The House Judiciary Committee has intensified its investigation into alleged antitrust violations by Ivy League universities, issuing subpoenas to Brown University and the University of Pennsylvania on Tuesday. The move follows a similar subpoena issued last week to Harvard University, as lawmakers examine whether elite institutions coordinated tuition hikes and engaged in discriminatory financial aid practices.
Led by Chair Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Subcommittee Chair Scott Fitzgerald (R-Wisconsin), the committee is probing into whether Ivy League schools engaged in price-fixing by collectively raising tuition rates and using detailed financial information about applicants to shape aid packages in ways that maximized revenue—a practice they liken to price discrimination.
The investigation stems from an earlier request made in April, in which all eight Ivy League universities—including Yale University, Princeton University, Columbia University, Cornell University, and Dartmouth College—were asked to hand over internal records, communications, and emails related to financial aid and admissions dating back six years. While only Brown, Penn, and Harvard have received subpoenas so far, it remains unclear whether others will follow.
In letters accompanying the subpoenas, Jordan and Fitzgerald criticized Brown’s and Penn’s prior responses as “inadequate.” The committee claims it needs the documents to inform potential legislative reforms, including whether current antitrust penalties and enforcement mechanisms are sufficient to deter anti-competitive behavior in higher education.
Brown pushed back on the subpoena, maintaining it has been cooperative. “While the House Committee’s July 1 subpoena was unnecessary given our voluntary compliance,” a university spokesperson told CNBC, “we fully recognize the committee’s oversight authority and will continue to provide the committee with information it has requested.”
Penn similarly defended its engagement. A spokesperson stated the school has “promptly and consistently” responded to the committee’s requests and has already provided over 8,000 pages of documents.
This congressional inquiry runs parallel to a broader antitrust lawsuit that has rocked the country’s most prestigious universities. In January, Johns Hopkins University and Caltech agreed to pay a combined $35.2 million to settle allegations they favored wealthy applicants in violation of “need-blind” admissions policies. That lawsuit, first filed in 2022, has so far yielded nearly $320 million in settlements from multiple schools—including Brown, Yale, and Columbia—though all deny wrongdoing.
The outcomes of both the court case and the congressional probe could have lasting implications on how elite universities structure tuition and financial aid. For now, the Ivy League faces mounting legal and political scrutiny from a Republican-led committee whose broader track record includes other efforts to challenge the autonomy of higher education institutions.
