House Judiciary panel questions Ivy League pricing, enrollment and administrative spending

The House Judiciary Committee convened a hearing to examine allegations that Ivy League universities coordinate pricing and limit undergraduate enrollment in ways that keep tuition high, witnesses and student witnesses said. Testimony ranged from antitrust-focused legal analysis to warnings that the hearing was a partisan attack and that broader federal funding decisions — including proposed cuts to Pell Grants and research spending — drive affordability problems.

The hearing opened with testimony from Preston Cooper, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, who said the eight Ivy League institutions “show many hallmarks of anti‑competitive behavior.” Cooper cited restricted undergraduate admissions, very high sticker prices and large institutional spending as red flags that, he said, merit scrutiny even if they do not by themselves prove an antitrust violation.

“Most Ivy League institutions severely limit undergraduate admissions, turning away thousands of qualified applicants,” Cooper testified. He told the committee that Ivy spending per full‑time equivalent student averages about $126,000 compared with roughly $35,000 at the average private college, and that Ivy institutions…