Posted on 03/09/2008 5:22:24 AM PDT by raybbr
Princeton University, with a $15.8 billion endowment, larger than the gross domestic product of Bolivia, is among an elite list of super-wealthy schools under pressure to justify how they spend their enormous wealth.
Last year, a record 76 colleges and universities had endowments greater than $1 billion, making them targets for criticism in an era of soaring tuition and ballooning student loan debt.
Congress wants the schools to spend more money on lowering tuitions for poor and middle-class students and is looking into the tax-exempt status of some donations.
(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...
Why does tuition go up every year at these colleges?
if they want to be socialist with their own money....that’s fine by me! But they do want our money too :(
Congress is a big net. Is this Barney Fwank or who?
Redistribution of wealth - college style.
Communists don’t share wealth, they steal it for themselves.
It’s the dream of every Marxist elite to sit at the sidewalk cafe sipping absinthe and watch the bourgeois ants scurry off to the collective plantations.
Tuition was $11 per credit hour when I first started at Oklahoma State University 1969. When my daughter graduated from University of Texas 2006 her tuition was about $635 per credit hour. That is many times the rate of inflation. And you have to watch out for liberal professors. She majored in HydroGeology so her professors tended to be REALISTIC and NOT liberal. But UT is the home of ultra far left liberal professor Robert Jensen. I told her if she HAD to take any class taught by him in order to graduate that I would no longer pay for her to go to school there. She only knew one person who had Jensen for a teacher, and her friend HATED Jensen.
Robert Jensen (Professor, University of Texas)
“[Americans must pursue] the most courageous act of citizenship in the United States today: pledging to dismantle the American empire. The United States has lost the war in Iraq, and that’s a good thing.”
This actually has a very simple answer, provided by Richard Vedder in his book, "Going Broke By Degree": tuition goes up every year because STUDENT AID goes up every year. Everytime a Clinton or Obama promises to make college "more affordable" for the po' and middle class, all they do is jack up tuition another $1000-2000. Colleges say, "Look, student aid has been increased by 10%---we can charge 10% more."
At my university, 60% of students are receiving some sort of aid. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that many of them are paying the student aid for others, who in turn are paying the student aid for them---all with a bunch of bureaucrats in the middle collecting nice salaries.
Shouldn’t they have to “Pay their fair share” and give money to Joe-Bobs Truck Driving School, and the Community College?
Its about time that they put their wallet where their socialist mouth is.
The government should simply annex all universities that produce an unfair superior education for the wealthy autocratic students. After all, the experiment of socialization of primary has proven to be a brilliant success. This logic will inspire excellence in all contrary to the belief by some that it will produce mediocrity in all.
“Congress wants the schools to spend more money on lowering tuitions for poor and middle-class students.”
Congresscrooks are always (it seems) trying to find ways to punish the rich. Maybe this is the way they think they can buy votes from the unwashed masses because we are all so stupid.
they teach it...now they are forced to practice it and they are not happy
average college tuition will rise 6% in 2008...more than inflation!!!!
For example, familar with the rules of Fund Accounting are you?
Or, what percentage of a particular institution's endowment is "restricted" specifically to the use designated by the donors? And, what happens when those instructions are not adhered to faithfully - can you spell disgorgement of funds.
Or, even better, what expense line item is generally found at the top of Operating Budget at colleges/universities - it is not financial aid is it? Or, the neat item called "deferred maintenance" ...
And, how are those TIAA/CREF contributions from Dayton doing for you ... ?
Maybe somebody will “take from the rich” for the greatrer good. Nevermind, commies don’t screw socialists.
You are not my friend, nor even an acquaintance, therefore you have no right to call me by my first name, nor to use any post I make as an excuse to lie, lie, lie.
Harvard has a $30 billion endowment. Some other schools have $5-10 billion. The Kamehameha Schools in Hawaii (the Bishop Trust) has $7 billion.
These funds are allowed tax-free status, because the public derives a benefit from them (supporting education).
But when they become that massive, they deprive the public of another benefit—the taxes from their portfolio income.
There’s no need at Harvard for any student to pay tuition; and Harvard could build another Harvard on the west coast and still be in the black.
When any charitable fund becomes a business enterprise, it needs to be treated like a business enterprise and be taxed (otherwise, its tax burden is being borne by all the rest of the taxpayers).
Well, I went to one of those schools with an endowment in the tens of billions and I no longer send them any money.The fact that these schools charge anybody anything to attend is outrageous. I'm familiar with all the excuses administrator's give but the reality is that these endowments grow year after year, spend only a tiny fraction and enrich investment advisors while parents and students are forced deeper into debt. No institution has more opaque finances than higher education. They make government look like a model of openness.
Just curious, LS, what lies did jamaksin make in his/her post? Sounded like he/she was making very valid points on why tuition goes up in spite of growing endowments...you never answered.
Instead of demanding that rich colleges share the wealth with smaller colleges - possibly counter to the intent of the donors - simply mandate that they give out a larger share of the endowment in student scholarships. Helps the outrage of too high tuition, but isn’t giving money to failing colleges.
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