Princeton University has a monstrous endowment of more than $22 billion. Princeton is also asking alumni to lobby Congress to block a tax on super-sized college and university endowments.
At over $60,000 a year, tuition for undergrads is also monstrous, so Princeton provides one-fourth of its undergrads with scholarships for those who find it difficult to meet expenses. Sound generous? Read about the absurdity of the math in the WSJ’s Review & Outlook.
In his regular Washington Post column, (George Will) penned a defense of one of the richest of the rich universities, Princeton. The fancy-pants university in New Jersey enjoys a monstrous endowment of more than $22 billion. But it is so noble and beneficent, Will tells us. Princeton provides scholarships to nearly one-fourth of its undergraduates who come from families that have difficulty paying its tuition, room, board, and fees, which exceed $60,000 per year.
That sounds generous, but it’s not. Do the math. A modest 5-percent return on $22 billion is $1.1 billion. Princeton has 5,000 undergraduates. That’s $220,000 for every undergraduate—every year. The amount given in scholarship aid is a piddling portion of Princeton’s endowment income. Assume that the quarter of Princeton students who get aid receive full scholarships (which they don’t, of course). That would cost the university around $75 million per year—less than 10 percent of its endowment income.
Read more here.
If you’re willing to fight for Main Street America, click here to sign up for the Richardcyoung.com free weekly email.