Stopping
federal and state governments from using taxpayer funding for universities has potential
benefits:
Redistribution
of Resources: Cutting
government funding could redistribute resources to other areas of need, infrastructure,
debt reduction and most importantly Medicare and Social Security.
Fiscal
Responsibility: It
would promote fiscal responsibility and accountability within universities,
encouraging them to use their resources more efficiently and transparently.
Reduce
Dependence on Public Funds:
Encourages universities not to rely less on public funds and use their
endowments and become more self-sufficient, fostering innovation and
entrepreneurship in revenue generation.
Fairness: It addresses concerns about fairness by
ensuring that wealthy institutions with substantial endowments contribute more
than their fair share to society, especially when they benefit from tax-exempt
status.
Budgetary
Relief: Cutting
government funding would provide budgetary relief for governments facing
financial constraints, allowing funds to be allocated to other priorities such
as Medicare and Social Security.
Here is a structured
plan to strip elite universities of government funding and federal student loan
dollars (taxpayer-funded) with key components ASAP.
Assessment
of Current Funding Streams: A
comprehensive review of the government funding and federal student loan dollars
allocated to elite universities. This includes grants, research funding,
student aid programs, and other forms of financial assistance is already
available to lawmakers.
Establish
Criteria for Elite Universities: Define
criteria that determine which universities qualify as "elite." This
must include factors such as endowment size, selectivity in admissions,
academic reputation, research output, and financial resources.
Gradual
Phase-Out Approach: Implement
a 3-year phased approach to gradually reduce and eventually eliminate
government funding and federal student loan dollars for elite universities over this 3-year predetermined timeframe. This allows universities to adjust their
budgets and operations accordingly.
Redirect
Funding to Priority Areas: Reallocate
the government funding and student loan dollars saved from elite universities
to prioritize areas such as border protection and reduction of debt.
Legislative
Action: Draft and
propose legislation to amend existing laws and regulations governing government
funding and federal student loans to elite universities. This may involve
changes to eligibility criteria, funding allocation formulas, or enforcement
mechanisms.
Public
Awareness and Support: Build
public awareness and support for the plan by highlighting the rationale behind
redirecting funding from elite universities to other priorities.
Monitoring
and Evaluation: Establish
mechanisms for monitoring and evaluating the implementation of the plan and
adjust as needed based on feedback and performance metrics.
Enforcement
and Compliance: Enforce
compliance with the new regulations and ensure that elite universities adhere
to the revised funding guidelines. Implement penalties for non-compliance, such
as fines, and loss of accreditation.
Long-Term
Sustainability: Develop
strategies to ensure the long-term sustainability of the revised funding
framework, including periodic reviews, updates to eligibility criteria, and
ongoing dialogue with stakeholders.
By following
this plan, policymakers can effectively strip elite universities of government
funding and federal student loan dollars while promoting equal access to
education and supporting priority areas for all Americans and not elite universities
and colleges.
REASONS and
FACTS for The PLAN:
The substantial
taxpayer-funded financial resources available to Ivy League universities, from
federal funding along with their private and corporate donated considerable
endowments, raise questions about the allocation of these funds and their
impact on affordability and access to higher education.
A newly
released report, by Open the Books, an organization that aims to make public
spending more transparent, shed light on the enormous sums of money the federal
government (taxpayers) provides to Ivy League universities — and how that money
is handled.
It concluded
that in the six fiscal years between 2010 and 2015, $41.59 billion of the Ivy
League’s money could be traced back to taxpayer-funded payments and benefits.
To put that in
perspective, the average amount of money that the eight Ivy League schools
received annually over that time — $4.31 billion — exceeds the amount of money
received by 16 of the 50 states.
The report also
examined Ivy League endowments, some of the country's largest.
Penn’s endowment for 2015 was the fourth highest, at $10.1 billion. In 2016, it
climbed to $10.7 billion.
The Ivy League’s
total endowment is around $120 billion, which amounts to about $2 million per
undergraduate student. A sum of that size could give every Ivy League student a
full ride for the next 51 years.
Between 2010
and 2015, the eight schools received $23.89 billion in federal grants $10.6
billion of which came from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and
the National Institutes of Health.
Other sources
of grant money were the National Science Foundation, the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, the Department of Defense, and the Department of
Energy.
Research grants
and contracts weren’t the only forms of government support for Ivy League
schools. The government also provides various forms of aid grants to colleges —
in the six years the report investigated, Penn received $20,362,715 for the
federal work-study program and $33,155,056 in Pell Grants.
The report also
showed the comparatively low state funding Penn receives. While Cornell
received $98.91 million from New York in 2015, Penn received just $19,233.
Financial aid
at the Ivy League schools is most often need-based, which is offered based on a
student’s financial need, rather than merit. However, the available range is
generous, with many schools offering a zero-parent contribution for families of
a certain income.
For example,
students from families with an income of less than $85,000 can attend Harvard
University for free. Additionally, Dartmouth College offers a scholarship
covering at least the cost of tuition for families making under $125,000[55].
The number of
students offered financial support is also reassuring with 62% of Princeton
University undergraduates receiving financial aid for the Class of 2025. Many
Ivy League schools also offer financial aid to international students.
Further, these
schools also rely on significant federal funding. For example, in 2021 Harvard
received $625 million in federal funds, or approximately 67% of the school’s
total sponsored revenue that year.
From the
government side, student financial aid accounts for the lion’s share of federal
dollars that go to colleges and universities. In 2018, 65% of the $149 billion
total in federal funds received by institutions of higher education went toward
federal student aid. This covers scholarships, work-study and loans given to
students for their educational expenses, according to USA Facts, a nonprofit
site that collects government data.
In 2018,
federal money made up 14% of all college revenue. About 3.6% of total federal
spending went toward higher education investments.
Colleges and
universities received $1.068 trillion in revenue from federal and non-federal
funding sources in 2018.
The federal
government directed 65% of its $149 billion investments to federal student aid
which covers scholarships, work-study and loans given to students for their
educational expenses.
Harvard
University received the largest federal grant: $179 million from the National
Institute of Health. Columbia University received the second largest grant,
$165 million, invested from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Hawaii, Alaska,
and Vermont public universities had the largest revenues from federal grant and
contract investments per student enrolled in public colleges and universities.
California,
Texas, and Michigan public universities were the top recipients of federal
grant and contract money in 2018, receiving a quarter of federal grant and
contract revenue across all public universities.
States
collectively allocated $11.7 billion (or 10.2 percent) more for higher
education in the 2024 fiscal year than they did in 2023, significantly
outpacing the rate of inflation and more than compensating for the continuing
decline in federal recovery funds distributed through state governments.
The states
spent a total of $126.452 billion in 2024, up from $114.734 billion in 2023.
Other states
with increases of roughly 20 percent included Nevada (19.9 percent), New Mexico
(19.2 percent), North Dakota (20.1 percent), South Carolina (24.2 percent) and
Utah (21.8 percent).
State support
for higher education declined by 12.3 percent in Vermont and by 8.7 percent in
the much larger Pennsylvania.
Sources:
https://www.openthebooks.com/assets/1/7/Oversight_IvyLeagueInc_FINAL.pdf
https://shef.sheeo.org/grapevine/#about-grapevine
https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d20/tables/dt20_333.20.asp