lol
more for self-aggrandizement than to ‘secure admissions’ - and more than that as tradition of paying it forward and not incidentally, for tax benefits.
btw, @Ali1302 in the US you get a tax deduction for your donations to charities/non-profits (including schools and universities). In the UK you do NOT get a tax deduction.
No, but the charities can claim back the tax instead.
@collegemom3717 I really don’t think that donations get taxed since Oxford and Cambridge are public institutions.The millionaires/billionaires that donate millions of pounds find a way around taxes. I just doubt that taxes are paid for donations to public institutions.
@Ali1302, you misunderstand. Donations are not taxed. In the US individuals can reduce the taxes that they owe to the government by donating to non-profits, including public universities. On average, for every $1 you donate, you can reduce your taxes by 25c. That is one way that people “find a way around taxes” .
In the UK individuals can not get a reduction in the taxes they owe for donations. Instead, as Conformist1688 points out, the individual donates the money and the charity can reclaim part of the basic tax relief (typically +/- 25p on the pound). The evidence suggests that the UK version is not as effective an incentive to donate as a direct tax deduction.
Essentially, Ali, donations are a great way for people in the US to decide what to do with more of their own money, rather than letting it be appropriated and spent by the government. And they can feel good about the donation per se: it’s for a good cause generally.
why do u care about endowment so much most people look at Us news rankings to determine how prestigious a college is
look up diminishing returns if you want to know the impact that $20 billion vs $10 billion at a small school has on retaining the top students/professors
It’s all relative. Umich at $10 billion can offer full cost of attendance for in state students, who have a much lower tuition cost. Other public schools cannot manage this. But with 25,000 undergrads from relatively less wealthy backgrounds (more financial need) than HYPSM, it absolutely cannot afford to allure all out of state applicants. Thus an extra $10 billion would do wonders.
Small private schools can afford to do this at $10 billion
The endowments don’t really help draw professors once you have top of the line facilities, so much as the prestige, tenure, and research opportunity and factors beyond control, like geographic preference
I do agree with others that a heavily socialized endowment means nothing. Heck, china could throw $1 trillion into shanghai U and instantly dwarf all of that. But what would be the point? I also find myself asking what is the point in harvard having the GDP of estonia (population 1.3 million) stashed away and shouldn’t they lose their tax exempt status and stop nagging freshly minted alums for donations?
and “prestige” is shit. We have totally lost sight of what really matters in college - educating!!
Prezbucky, not when it goes to bloated athletic departments that enrich a few admins and coaches. Why this counts as “charity” is beyond me
Athletic success improves school spirit and probably, in some cases, keeps elderly alumni ticking longer. (celebrating a victory is better for the health and psyche than languishing in defeat; many alumni take sports rather seriously.)
The term “charity” might seem ridiculous, especially when it goes to already-rich programs… but when it helps the performance of the team, many benefit from it.
@steellord123 “Heck, china could throw $1 trillion into shanghai U and instantly dwarf all of that” I doubt china would have a spare $1 trillion to throw at one institution. However, there is an example of that occurring.
Ever heard of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology? It’s a postgraduate school in Saudi Arabia that has a $20 billion endowment. King Abdullah and Saudi Aramco(oil company) spent $20 billion on the university and a further $200 million on top us scientist from Stanford, Cornell, UC Berkeley etc…
The institution aims to be the middle eastern MIT and is growing rapidly in terms of research citations.
Here’s a link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Abdullah_University_of_Science_and_Technology
This is just one example of how money matters and to add the university is going up many places in the global rankings.
yeah well, athletic success isn’t a matter of simple dollars. Texas had the highest athletic budget and is terrible
John Oliver did a segment on this that completely sold me. Since the players aren’t paid (well, except in the SEC), higher revenue just means $10 million goes into a damn golf clubhouse that’s used in the summer only, or on buyouts for failed ADs and coaches.
On top of that, the incentive to donate to athletics for better seats and other perks actually steals donations away from academic departments
It’s pretty hard to compare business schools results across countries, and even regions due to currency fluctuations and cost of living adjustments. $150K in Detroit, Chicago or Indy is a lot more that $150K in London or New York. The UK has no tradition of charity like the US- so the endowments for Oxbridge are impressive - and UK incomes are generally lower than the US. Finally, many LSE and Oxbridge business grads work in the City, which has extremely high salaries. The same applies to Wharton and Wall Street.
On top of that, you have disparities in tax rates which also cause fluctuations in gross salaries.
The 3yr - direct to major undergrad system in the UK also changes faculty/student ratios. You might have only one year of giant lecture classes instead of 2.