Ivy League espionage

last updated 8 January 2015

Princeton, N.J.

Yale University administrators last week accused rivals at Princeton University of peeking at confidential Internet records of 11 students who had applied to both schools. The FBI is investigating. A Princeton spokeswoman conceded that a university official had used social security numbers provided on application materials to gain access to files on Yale’s Web site. One of the students was Lauren Bush, the president’s niece, who was accepted at both schools. The incident shows how fiercely Ivy League universities compete for top students, said John Katzman, founder of the test-preparation company Princeton Review. “It is just good sport,” he said. “Of course, it’s totally wrong.”