Monday, September 2, 2019

So why are they still charging fees?


It seems some American universities and university systems can only be described as "stinking rich".

There are 195 countries in the world, and over half of them are poorer than Harvard University.

The Ivy League institution’s 2018 endowment was $38.3 billion, according to Stacker. This amount exceeds the wealth of any of more than half of the 195 countries around the world.

. . .

Campus Reform reached out to Harvard for a breakdown of funding allocation and to see what the school thought of the college vs. countries statistic, but received no comment in time for publication.

With a 2018 endowment of $30.9 billion, the University of Texas system finished right beneath Harvard on Stacker’s list, as reported by KXAN.

UT Austin spokesman J.B. Bird told Campus Reform that diversity accounted for a “huge community” and that the funds “serve all people.” He highlighted that, among the individuals served by the funds are rural Texans.

. . .

Other schools rounding out the top ten U.S. colleges with endowments larger than the total wealth of dozens of countries world's are Yale University, Stanford University, Princeton University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Pennsylvania, Texas A&M University System, University of Michigan, and Northwestern University.

There's more at the link.

The universities concerned will doubtless claim that since many endowment donations are made for a specific purpose (e.g. to "endow" a chair, or professorship, in a particular subject, or build and maintain a particular building, or fund a specific program), they can't be used for other purposes.  Nevertheless, my relatively simple brain can't help but think that if several billion dollars isn't enough to cater for every one of those purposes, and still leave several billion free for what have you, then some universities' financial officers haven't been doing their job.

That being the case, why are such rich institutions charging admission and tuition fees at all?  Why not make their education - lectures, textbooks, etc. - free of charge?  Those costs would amount to chump change compared to their assets.  They could charge for accommodation, food, etc. if they saw fit, but even those elements of education wouldn't strain their resources overmuch.  Also, why are those same universities constantly approaching alumni for more money, more donations, more endowment contributions?  When is enough, enough?  I'd have thought, once you reach a certain multiple of the institution's annual expenditure (say, ten times as much, or fifteen, or twenty - pick one), any more money is basically superfluous.  Isn't this just seeking money for the sake of money, rather than for any higher purpose?  And couldn't that money be better spent elsewhere?

Perhaps I'm just old-fashioned, a stick-in-the-mud.  I thought the purpose of a university was to educate, not to continually enrich itself . . . but then, the late, great Jerry Pournelle saw this coming a long time ago.




Peter

9 comments:

tkdkerry said...

Why do they still charge fees? So the students and parents believe they've received something of value. The higher the fees, the more the value. P. T. Barnum must be bursting with pride.

SiGraybeard said...

Harvard, socialism central, could pay for every undergrad forever at the rate their fund is growing. So why don't they?

They actually said it was better for the students to have to work for something they want than have it given to them.



Thought Criminal said...

As some wag said "Harvard is a hedge fund pretending to be an educational institution."

Beans said...

They're just following the example of the Government. I think the IRS finally stopped charging, in 2000 something, for the tax on land phones put in place to help pay for the Spanish American War.

As to why they don't want to not charge their students? More money, money, money. Lots of money to the 'shareholders' at the university.

How else can they afford to pay an entitled snot like Warren or Biden so much money to teach one class a semester?

Wayne Wilson said...

They will use the money for illegal aliens.

HMS Defiant said...

my post didn't make it over the wire. Oh well,

been there didn't get the medal or hte prize.

I can live with it.

Tsgt Joe said...

Regardless of the purpose that an instition is formed,its purpose eventually becmes to perpetuate itself.

Jonathan H said...

The article only mentioned the per capita endowment of Harvard; I'd be curious to see how it compares to the others on the list. I know of a couple of very small schools with significant endowments that may be even large per capita - one of which, Webb Institute, gives free tuition to all students.

Stan_qaz said...

Not finding a lot left on the web from the originators but lots of commentary on their plan.

https://infogalactic.com/info/Free_Harvard,_Fair_Harvard