Stanford, Northwestern and the Ivy League universities have collected a mixed $33 billion in taxpayer-funded grants and contracts and one other $12 billion in tax breaks on their endowments over the past 5 years, in accordance with new information from OpenTheBooks.com.
That $45 billion is now being known as into query as lawmakers fume over the faculties’ dealing with of pro-Palestinian sentiments on campus within the wake of Hamas‘s murderous sneak attack on Israel last month.
Adam Andrzejewski, founder of the government spending watchdog OpenTheBooks, said Americans should be surprised by the significant amount of support they are giving to the schools,
“With the U.S. taxpayer subsidies, tax breaks and federal payments into these 10 elite universities pushing $7 billion per year, it’s time to revisit the definition of a public charity,” he stated. “Collectively, these schools have gamed the tax code for vast institutional enrichment.”
Stanford University led the best way with $7 billion in grants and contracts. Columbia University was second with $5.9 billion. Harvard University was fifth with $3.3 billion over the 2018-2022 interval. Dartmouth College was the one Ivy to not get at the very least $1 billion.
OpenTheBooks stated the huge sum of money makes the faculties “more federal contractor than they are educator.”
The largesse spanned administrations, with each the Trump and Biden groups pouring taxpayer money into the Ivies and different elite universities. Over the 5 years studied, the faculties bought between $6 billion and $7 billion in grants and contracts annually.
Schools have defended the cash, saying it funds cutting-edge medical science and different analysis.
OpenTheBooks, although, stated the colleges appear to do fantastic elevating cash on their very own with out Uncle Sam’s assist.
Endowments for the ten colleges studied grew from $172.2 billion in 2018 to $237 billion on the finish of final yr and OpenTheBooks projected the entire will attain $1 trillion over the following 25 years.
Some of that’s from new donations, however a lot of it’s from funding progress. According to the research, if the faculties have been unusual Americans, they’d pay a capital positive aspects tax of 20% on the expansion.
But as a result of the faculties function as nonprofits, they solely pay a 1.4% “excessive endowment tax,” which was imposed by President Trump’s 2017 tax overhaul and applies to colleges with endowments of at the very least $500,000 per scholar.
OpenTheBooks stated the faculties prevented $13 billion in taxes, due to their standing.
“Who knew that you were subsidizing the wealthy, elite universities? They don’t need taxpayer help,” Mr. Andrzejewski stated.
Some of the faculties additionally collected COVID-era bailout cash from the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund. Other colleges, together with Harvard and Stanford, turned the cash down.
The Israel–Hamas warfare has put a brand new concentrate on the federal money, with a number of Republicans calling on the faculties to be stripped of federal help.
Among them are a number of presidential hopefuls and high congressional leaders.
Some donors to the faculties have additionally balked at their dealing with of the matter. Billionaire Cliff Asness stated denying the colleges cash “appears to be one of the only paths” to getting the faculties’ consideration.
The colleges’ defenders fretted concerning the lack of educational freedom if colleges kowtowed to donor threats. But the faculties haven’t been shy about condemning the views of conservatives, main critics to marvel a couple of double customary at play of their reluctance to sentence pro-Hamas college students.
OpenTheBooks pointed to Stanford‘s designation final yr of the phrase “America” as “harmful language” as one instance of what colleges have allowed up to now.
