A few years back, Meg Whitman, now CEO of Hewlett-Packard, contributed $30 million to Princeton. In return she received a tax break estimated to be around $10 million. In effect, Princeton received $20 million from Whitman and $10 million from the U.S. Treasury – that is, from you and me and other taxpayers who made up the difference. Add in these endowments’ exemptions from taxes on capital gains and on income they earn, and the total government expenditures is even larger. Divide by the relatively small number of students attending these institutions, and the amount of subsidy per student is huge.
Posted on: Wed, 15 Oct 2014 23:16:13 +0000