Time to Make Colleges Pay Property Taxes

Lots of people are starting to think that colleges should have more skin in the game.

Walt Gardner writes at the James G. Martin Center:

It’s Time to Make Colleges Pay Property Tax

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Although the Ivies and other elite colleges and universities in the U.S. are financial titans, they are registered with the Internal Revenue Service as 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit organizations. As a result, their vast property holdings are exempt from taxation in all 50 states. The rationale for this status is that higher education is an inherent public good. At least that has been the assumption under which this country has long operated.

But this argument has increasingly been called into question by events over the last few years, culminating in the headline-making responses by university presidents to a recent congressional panel. It’s clear by now that what transpires on many campuses is more indoctrination than education.

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