Another Look at College Endowments

The idea that the Federal government would tax endowments is repulsive. It would be breaking the faith with the generations who gave money to their universities so that the universities would be able to survive decades, no centuries, of change and storm and those monies were given on the basis that the endowments were charities which would not be taxed. It seems to me that this idea is simply an example of the principle that "I need something and you have it, so give it to me" Another example of this is the orchestra players (St. Louis and Columbus as I recall) who want more money paid to them and want to dip into the endowments that were set up to provide for the long-term survival of the orchestra. I think it is a bad idea for the government to decide to regulate the payout of the endowments. Of course, several of the wealthiest universities have already responded by instituting scholarship programs for all the students from families with earnings of less than $60K per year.

Russell L. Johnson of CA 1:29PM October 03, 2008