Forcing schools to spend more of their endowments on easing tuition burdens would put nonprofits on a slippery slope.
In their Oct. 12 Op-Ed articles, Sen. Charles E. Grassley (“Using college endowments“) and Amherst College President Anthony W. Marx (“Defending college endowments“) share genuine concern about the affordability of higher education. They disagree about the role college and university endowments should play in lowering tuition costs for students. From our point of view as researchers of the higher education industry, neither makes a good case for or against using money in college endowments to ease students’ tuition burden.
Grassley is correct that Congress has the right — and responsibility — to examine whether nonprofit schools are providing socially valuable benefits that justify their favorable tax treatment. But if, as Grassley proposes, legislation mandating larger payouts from college and university endowments becomes law, Congress would be heading down a dangerous path that could very well lead to more harm than good.
While it would be easy to mandate minimum payouts from endowments, it would be exceedingly difficult to ensure that such a mandate translates into a more affordable undergraduate degree. Why?
Mandated payouts might flow to wealthier students as “merit” aid. Indeed, the extra payout might not fund financial aid at all but rather administrators’ salaries or a new swimming pool. Preventing this would require even more federal oversight and regulation, with government stipulating how a school can spend not only its endowment payout but other revenue sources as well.
Endowment payouts are only one source of financing for universities. If schools are compelled to spend money that they prefer to save, they might seek to bolster those savings through other channels — and spend more on fundraising or even reduce financial aid.
Mandated minimum payouts might lead to creative accounting that renames assets something other than “endowment” so as to exclude them from payout regulation. Such an unintended consequence of regulation could result in overall lower payouts than exist now.
Marx is correct that endowments are a “rainy day” fund for colleges and universities, and that wealthy schools are already using their endowments to provide financial aid to their students. However, for reasons we’ll explain soon, his suggestions that mandated payouts would harm schools with “slightly smaller” endowments, and that the federal government would curtail schools’ flexibility in spending, are misleading.
Grassley’s Senate Finance Committee sent questionnaires in January to the 136 schools with endowments that exceed $500 million — including Amherst College, which has $1.7 billion. But these 136 rich schools that the senators identified are only 3% of the roughly 4,300 colleges and universities in the country. At the other end of the spectrum, 18% of all two-year and four-year schools have no endowments.
Even if Congress forces the wealthiest schools to moderate their tuitions by spending down endowments, only a small percentage of college students would benefit. Endowments are too tiny at most schools to have any significant benefits for the vast majority of students. And if tuition cuts by the rich schools put competitive pressure on less wealthy schools to cut their tuition, there would be revenue losses all around.
Both Grassley and Marx leave unanswered the most basic question they should confront: Exactly how much endowment is “excessive” and therefor large enough to be regulated or even taxed? Both are stuck in a “top 10” view of large endowments: the biggest number of dollars. Thus, Harvard ($35 billion), Yale ($23 billion) and Stanford ($17 billion) are your top three schools on the endowment hit parade.
A “large” endowment should mean not its total wealth but its adequacy for sustaining a school’s total activities and expenditures. The truly wealthy schools are not those with the most dollars in their endowments, but those with the greatest capacity to sustain their activities with the dollars they have.
And by this “rainy day” measure, the top 10 change dramatically. Little Grinnell College tops the list; it would be able to sustain its program expenditures even if confronted by a dramatic and rare 10% cut in total revenue for 191 years by spending down its endowment. This is the revenue cut that Tulane University suffered in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Harvard falls to 16th, able to sustain its programs for 96 years, and Amherst leaps from No. 42 on the total endowment list to No. 7 on the sustaining activity list, with an endowment that can withstand 128 years of rainy days.
How much is too much is an appropriate question, but answering that by congressional decree is dangerous and arbitrary because it is not based on understanding the consequences.
Until there is better understanding of the true role of endowments in higher education, government-mandated payouts will not lead to greater affordability for students. There is also the danger that, having legislated how university endowments are to be spent, government will see the potential for pressing hospitals, museums, arts organizations and other nonprofit organizations to spend down their endowments — a slippery slope indeed.
Burton A. Weisbrod is co-author of Mission and Money (2010) and To Profit or Not to Profit (2000, as well as author of nearly 200 articles in journals such as the American Economic R...
Evelyn D. Asch is the co-author of Mission and Money (2010). She is Research Coordinator at the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University. She has also taught research and writing in the humanities and social sciences at Loyola University Chicago, DeP...
Jeffrey Ballou is the co-author of Mission and Money: Understanding the University (2010). Ballou is an economist at Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Prior to joining Mathematica, he held facul...
Campaspe family practise is based in Kyneton, situated at Kyneton District health. We have a range of services on offer and employ a range of doctors/GP's
We understand that you can’t always plan when you need medical attention. We also understand you will want a GP you trust and feel comfortable with and ASAP! So, we make sure that six to eight appointments are kept free with every doctor for on-the-day emergencies.
Many in our community commute long distances to and from work, so we offer late appointments and are open Saturdays to offer commuters great medical care with their preferred GP. There’s no point having a GP that you trust and feel comfortable with if you can never get in to see them when you need to.
Even if you call late in the day - we’ll do our utmost to accommodate you. At the very least, there’s always a nurse available to talk to you about your concerns.
We know that when patients have limited access to care, they tend to wait until their health has deteriorated before they visit their GP. Campaspe Family Practise has introduced a courtesy car service which supports independence, and connects people to their community and local health services. Patients can request transport assistance when they book their medical appointment to transport them to the hospital precinct. A group of 15 community-minded volunteers are on the courtesy car roster.
The Australian Government has legislated that a My Health Record will be created for all Medicare and Department of Veterans’ Affairs card holders in Australia by the end of 2018, unless they choose not to have one.
My Health Record is an online summary of your key health information. More than 1 in 5 Australians already have one. Over time, My Health Record will bring together health information such as medical conditions, medicines, allergies and test results in one place.
If you are happy for a My Health Record to be created for you by the end of 2018, you don’t need to do anything.
If you would like to learn more about My Health Record and its benefits, or about how to inform the government that you don’t want a My Health Record, visit myhealthrecord.gov.au
There will be a three month period commencing 16 July 2018 when you can inform the Government of your choice to opt out of the My Health Record system. This period has not yet started. If you would like to register for when it does commence, please visit myhealthrecord.gov.au
We work very hard to recruit doctors that our patients like and trust. We know to achieve exceptional medical care we need you to feel comfortable and supported by your GP. Specialist medical skills are important but we also want you to feel listened to and understood. So, we don’t just look for excellence in medicine when choosing our doctors – we look for doctors who are also affable, caring, and easy to talk to.
So there will always be some doctors at the clinic that will bulk bill concession patients such as Health Care Card holders, Pensioners and children under the age of sixteen.
We pride ourselves on offering you as many specialised services as close to home as possible. There is no need to travel to the bigger cities to get the medical services you need. We are very active in recruiting quality specialists to join our team – and we specifically target those areas that we find are under-serviced in our area.
You can save time by downloading our new patient registration form and filling it in before you come to the surgery. Please print and complete the form and bring it with you to your first appointment or alternatively email the completed electronic form to campaspe@campaspefp.com.au
Campaspe Family Practice acknowledges the traditional custodians of the lands where this country stands and pays respect to their elders both past and present.
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Campbell Memorial High School is seeking a High School Football Coach. Success as a varsity head coach or coordinator is preferred.
have a strong desire to build a competitive football program (7-12), as well as oversee the youth program.
Coordinates the selection of proper equipment and supplies for their program within budget parameters
Works with the principal, the Athletic Director and other district personnel to ensure student-athletes follow school policies and are academically eligible.
Directs supervision of the entire program. Ensures continuity of the complete football program (7-12).
Potential candidates must possess or be able to obtain a Pupil Activity Permit and all OHSAA requirements prior to being hired.
Interested and qualified individuals should submit a letter of application to Mr. Matthew Bowen, Superintendent OR electronically to cmmichaels@campbell.k12.oh.us (superintendent’s secretary). Application deadline for internal certified bargaining unit members closes at 3:00 pm on Monday, November 19, 2018. All other applicants are encouraged to apply. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.
Bright Futures students visited the Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics Posted On: Sunday, November 11, 2018
Campbell Memorial's Bright Futures students visited the Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics at the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport.
Thank you to our K-7 Student Council and Mrs. Tovarnak for an incredibly successful holiday food drive!
On Friday, our K-4 students braved the chilly weather to take part in our annual Halloween parade. Check out this video to see our students in action. 🎃 👻
P.S. - be on the look out for Mr. Goske - his costume will have you seeing double! Click Read More to watch the video
Campbell Memorial High School came together today in support of National Bullying Prevention Month. UNITED for kindness, acceptance, and inclusion.
If you are a veteran from Campbell (or know of anyone from your family that is) and would like to be included in our slideshow....
Honorable Judge Patrick P. Cunning has been chosen as our Tenth Alumni Spotlight. Posted On: Thursday, October 18, 2018
Congrats to our CMHS soccer team who are co-champs of the AAC Blue Tier after a great 2-1 victory tonight! Henry Mejia and Victor Orozco each scored one goal respectively!
Dean Austalosh will compete for the Division III State Golf Championship in Columbus, Ohio on October 12th & 13th.
What a great night at the Friends 4 Friends Film Festival. Our CMHS students won best short film for their film “I Didn’t Ask for This”. The students worked really hard on this project and it paid off! School resource officer Wilbur Drayton also won best supporting actor.
Interested in Becoming an Educational Aide? Here Is What You Need to Know... Posted On: Thursday, June 14, 2018
To learn more about becoming and Educational Aide or Substitute Educational Aide, please click the following link:
Please take a look at the calendar approved for the 2018-2019 school year. Remember to plan trips or vacations accordingly. All parents are encouraged to have students in attendance throughout the year.