Harvard Yard on the campus of Harvard University
A view of Harvard Yard on the campus of Harvard University on July 08, 2020 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

On Tuesday, congressional Republicans sent letters to eight Ivy League institutions amid concerns that coordinated practices drove up tuition costs. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, Senator Mike Lee, and Representative Scott Fitzgerald delivered the letters to Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania, and Yale, according to reports by The Hill and the Washington Examiner.

The letter stated, "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," according to The Hill. In the same message, the lawmakers requested that the schools provide documents dating back to 2019 detailing communications with other higher education institutions and organizations including the College Board, with a submission deadline of April 22.

The correspondence also referenced a lawsuit alleging that the College Board had collaborated with institutions to restrict financial aid and overcharged students of divorced or separated parents for tuition. It noted that the Council of Ivy League Presidents held meetings concerning admission practices, according to The Hill.

The Washington Examiner reported that the inquiry, initiated months after a lawsuit was filed against the College Board, also examined campus efforts to combat antisemitism. One excerpt from the letter read, "The structure and operation of the higher education market strongly suggests the market was not functioning properly and was subject to widespread violations of antitrust laws," according to the Washington Examiner.