One of the problems is regulation around endowments. It's a corruption magnet. "Oops, our donor said we
had to use this money for new buildings." Apparently not one of these damn people they court want to help affordability at all though?
Quote:
Stellar endowment performance for the year ending in June was led by schools heavily invested in stocks. Institutions with complex investment strategies such as Yale University, which puts more than half of its assets in alternatives such as private equity and hedge funds, generally did poorer. Tiffany Jones, director of higher education policy at the Education Trust, said most endowment wealth is concentrated in just a few schools. Some 3 percent of colleges hold 75 percent of all endowment wealth, she said, while half of all colleges with endowments above $500 million come up short in enrolling first-time Pell Grant recipients, a need-based grant.
“These wealthy institutions need to enroll and support many more of the students who face the greatest barriers,” she said.
Meanwhile, tuition at private non-profit universities this academic year was more than double what it was 30 years ago, according to the College Board, adjusting for inflation. And in 2015, the most recent year for which data is available, 58 college presidents were being paid more than $1 million. The people who run the endowments are also cashing in. In 2015, Stephen Blyth, then chief executive of Harvard University’s endowment, was making $15 million, according to tax filings. Blyth didn’t return a request for comment. Harvard declined to comment.
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But yea, it is way out of line to suggest there is room for reform.