The House Ways and Means Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight Chairman Peter Roskam announced that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing on college and university endowments. The hearing is entitled “Back to School: A Review of Tax-Exempt College and University Endowments.” The hearing will take place in Washington DC on Tuesday, September 13, 2016 at 10:00AM in Room 1100 of the Longworth House Office Building.
Earlier this year, Congress sent letters to 56 colleges and universities inquiring into the management and spending of their endowments. Prior to that, the Internal Revenue Service began scrutinizing college and university endowment practices when, in 2008, it sent out compliance questionnaires to approximately 400 colleges and universities. The scrutiny was part of a larger IRS program in which reviewed college and university practices involving endowments, executive compensation and unrelated business activities.
Congress and the IRS have been concerned about the growth of endowment funds, the compensation paid to fund managers, and whether more money from such funds should be used to offset the rising tuition rates being charged by educational institutions that are “charitable” organizations.
Now, we wait and see what comes out of the hearing.