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Letter to the editor

Wealthy colleges should help lower tuition, senator says

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published October 15, 2007

In recent weeks, a string of colleges and universities have announced enviable investment results. Leading the way was Yale, which earned 28 percent over the year ending June 30, increasing the school's endowment to $22.5-billion overall.

But while those numbers were coming out, some members of the Senate Finance Committee in Washington were wondering aloud why the rise in endowments isn't stemming tuition increases. At a hearing last month, lawmakers batted around the idea of forcing at least some colleges to spend more savings on reducing costs.

"Senators, what would your constituents say if gasoline cost $9.15 a gallon?" Lynne Munson, an adjunct fellow at the Center for College Affordability and Productivity in Washington told the committee. "Or if the price of milk was over $15? That is how much those items would cost if their price had gone up at the same rate that tuition has since 1980."

Private foundations are required by law to spend at least 5 percent of their endowments each year on their missions, but public charities - including colleges - face no such requirement. Holding colleges to the same standard is not a bad idea, says Iowa Republican Sen. Charles Grassley, the committee's minority leader.

"It'd be good to see the very elite institutions, with the richest endowments, take the lead and create a ripple effect throughout higher education to make college more affordable for everyone," he said in a statement. It's unclear, Republicans and Democrats say, whether the proposal will make it out of the committee.

[Last modified October 15, 2007, 00:12:22]