Washington — The Internal Revenue Service released details today of a 42-page questionnaire it is sending to roughly 400 colleges to collect information about their executive compensation, endowments, and outside business income.

Among other things, the questionnaire examines how a range of small, medium, and large institutions report income and losses on business activities that may be taxable and how they manage and spend their endowments (The Chronicle, September 12).

The federal agency, through its Colleges and Universities Compliance Project, also will examine, in depth, how colleges pay their presidents and other top executives, including perks such as first-class travel, personal use of a credit card, and services such as housekeeping and lawn maintenance.

Like a similar questionnaire the IRS requires of some tax-exempt hospitals, the reports for individual colleges will not be made public. The agency will compile a report on their findings and possibly audit some institutions, to ensure that they are following existing tax laws. —Eric Kelderman