Legislators propose tax on Yale's multi-billion-dollar endowment
Connecticut state legislators are considering a tax on Yale’s $25.6 billion endowment, Yale Daily News reported last week.
The proposed bill, S.B. 413, would tax unspent endowment earnings retained by private colleges. However, the tax would only apply to institutions with endowments worth over $10 billion, effectively singling out Yale as the only qualifying university in the state.
State representatives of New Haven believe the tax would incentivize Yale to invest more in Connecticut’s economy and control rising tuition costs.
Yale’s Associate Vice President for Federal Relations Richard Jacob described the bill as “unprecedented,” claiming that it could cause instability amongst the university and its donors.
Despite strong administrative opposition, members of the student body testified in favor of the bill. They emphasized that the university could do more to combat rising tuition and insufficient faculty numbers, in light of the endowment’s recent growth.
Over the past year, Yale’s endowment grew by $1.7 billion. A tax on the university’s unspent earnings would be the first of its kind.
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