Passage of Senate Tax-Reform Bill Leaves Colleges Scrambling

December 4, 2017
  • Industry News

ollege leaders are bracing for major changes to the nation’s tax code that could weaken their financial footing by undermining charitable giving and placing new tax burdens on institutions with valuable endowments.

College leaders spoke out in near-uniformity against the Republican lawmakers’ plans. “At a time when our economy is demanding more education for more of our citizens, we cannot erect new barriers for the millions of Americans who need affordable higher education,” wrote Margaret Spellings, president of the University of North Carolina system and the former education secretary under President George W. Bush.

If the main goal of the tax bills is to spur economic activity, said Marjorie Hass, president of Rhodes College, then Congress would better accomplish that goal by investing in colleges and universities.

“It’s very disappointing that higher education is not being seen as an important aspect of growing the economy,” she said.

Read more at The Chronicle of Higher Education: https://www.chronicle.com/article/Passage-of-Senate-Tax-Reform/241962