May 30, 2008

Wealthy Colleges Must Make Themselves More Affordable

By CHARLES E. GRASSLEY

We Americans have decided that the work of nonprofit colleges and universities is so invaluable that they should be exempt from taxes. So John Doe pays taxes. John Deere pays taxes. But Johns Hopkins does not.

Those tax exemptions involve a social compact: In exchange, colleges are obliged to carry out the charitable purpose of providing the best education to the most students at the lowest cost. That system works pretty well. College is more accessible to a greater number of students

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