In 2004, the endowments of the 10 richest American universities were worth $78 billion — more than the gross domestic product of the world's 75 poorest nations combined ... [emphasis added]
This sentence is from this LATimes op-ed in which Martin Kimel argues that "there are better places for donations than wealthy universities that already have billions in endowments."
2 Comments:
The real point is, why should donations to these elite law and business schools have a tax break?
I don't agree that one's charity dollars "should" go elsewhere. Alumni do and should contribute to their alma maters, and charity will change nothing in the world's bottom 75 countries. They need livelihoods and infrastructure, and for that they need less corrupt governments. But the tax breaks make no sense. Those universities, excellent as they are, are not charitable institutions.
Rahul: I agree with you: there's certainly something wrong when donations to a rich university receive the same tax breaks as those to a charity organization serving the poor.
Post a Comment