Time to Tax Wealthy Colleges?

I've suggested in past blog postings that rich colleges should be taxed, with the proceeds going to poor students. A new editorial article agrees with me. Herbert Allen has written an Op-ed in today's New York Times called "Gold in the Ivory Tower." In his commentary, he lays out a nice case for taxing rich colleges. In case you haven't heard, at least 62 private and public colleges have over $1 billion. That's billion with a B. Dr. Evil would be proud, but students are hurting, and it's time to pass along a bunch of this money to them.

Robbing a Bank to Pay for Tuition

It was only a matter of time until something like this happened. Two students have pleaded guilty to armed bank robbery in Ohio, and when the judge asked them for an explanation, they said they did it to get money for tuition. They said they were strapped for cash and had two choices: steal the money or drop out of college.

Of course, there's no excuse for theft, but it's tragic that these two promising students felt as if they had no other options. Could this be a sign of the times?

Colleges' Dangerous Wealth

In a great new article, BW exposes "The Dangerous Wealth of the Ivy League." In short, the article shows that rich colleges are getting richer, which helps their employees and the rich students who attend these schools, while hurting everyone else.

In my opinion, this problem stretches way outside the Ivy League. There are at least 62 colleges (both private AND public) that have $1 billion or more. And the government allows these schools to pay no taxes! It's time to require billionaire colleges to pay a 'luxury tax,' which could then be used to create "Robin Hood grants" for needy students at other schools.