Following the announcement that Yale University next school year will increase by 37 percent the amount it spends annually from its endowment, to $1.15-billion, Harvard University officials took a similar step, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Harvard plans to increase spending next year from its $35-billion endowment to 5 percent of assets, up from its current 4.3 percent.

Congress has recently been pressuring wealthy institutions to make tuition more affordable, saying that elite colleges are hoarding their endowments despite significant yearly gains. According to a survey last year by the National Association of College and University Business Officers, 62 colleges had endowments exceeding $1-billion.

Sen. Charles E. Grassley, the senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, has considered requiring these institutions to spend a minimum amount of their endowments each year, similar to the 5 percent that private foundations are required to spend annually on charitable purposes. He said the announcement by Harvard and Yale will “set an example for all other well-funded schools to do the same.”

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