The fourth quarter of 2024 saw the highest lobbying expenditure by Penn since 2019.
Credit: Jean ParkPenn spent $180,000 on lobbying in the fourth quarter of 2024, the most money the University has spent on lobbying the federal government in a single quarter since 2019.
According to federal lobbying reports, Penn lobbied for various topics including “higher education issues”, graduate medical education, and federal drug pricing legislation. The University spent a total of $640,000 on lobbying in 2024, marking a 37.5% increase from the year prior.
Penn’s Office of Government and Community Affairs declined to comment.
The lobbying report indicated that Penn spent money lobbying in 5 areas: Education, Medical/Disease Research/Clinical Labs, Medicare/Medicaid, Health Issues, and Veterans.
Penn listed Associate Vice President of Federal Affairs William Andersen and University of Pennsylvania Health System Corporate Director for Government and Community Relations Kristen Molloy as individuals who lobbied on behalf of the University in their lobbying report.
For the 2024 calendar year, Penn ranked second in the Ivy League in terms of lobbying expenditures behind Cornell who spent $660,000.
At a meeting of the Local, National, and Global Engagement Committee of the University Board of Trustees meeting last quarter, Vice President of Government Affairs Jeffrey Cooper warned of potential threats to Penn caused by 1968 Wharton graduate Donald Trump’s then-incoming presidency.
Cooper said the University was facing a “very challenging and changing environment" and cited several potential effects of Trump’s leadership, including threats to higher education, changes to tax policies, and altered immigration laws.
The quarter, which ran from Oct. 1–Dec. 31, 2024, followed a tumultuous political year for Penn, that was marked by numerous federal investigations, a presidential election, and heightened congressional scrutiny.
The Republican-led United States House Committee on Education and the Workforce’s investigation into Penn’s response to alleged instances of antisemitism concluded on Oct. 31, 2023. The probe — which began in December 2023 and expanded in June — resulted in a 325-page report detailing the University’s handling of alleged antisemitic incidents, disciplinary actions, former Penn President Liz Magill’s resignation, and pro-Palestinian campus protests.
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