Washington — Sen. Charles E. Grassley today called on officials at the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Treasury Department to develop a Form 990 tax schedule that is specifically geared to colleges and universities.

The new tax form, which he requested during a Capitol Hill briefing on college costs and endowment spending, would require institutions to report information about their student populations and costs, he said in his remarks.

The current Form 990, which applies to all nonprofit institutions, just received an overhaul that goes into effect for the 2008 tax year. But Mr. Grassley said colleges should receive an additional schedule of disclosure requirements, which he said would be similar to a form recently devised for nonprofit hospitals. This was his first major public request for the form, according to a Senate aide.

Watch for complete coverage of today’s endowment hearing in tomorrow’s Daily Report. —Paul Fain