HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH?

Recently St. Louis-based commentator and radio host Jamie Allman addressed the issues surrounding the withholding by the federal government of $400 million to the university because of its administration's refusal to rein in anti-Israel demonstrators who have gone beyond the bounds of peaceful protest. Most citizens are probably unaware of just how much money the US government doles out to public and private institutions every year. $400 million is a huge amount, but it becomes staggering when you realize this is only a yearly donation--and yet more staggering when you realize that Columbia is only one of many, many institutions that receive federal funds, and is far from the largest recipient.

Allman dropped yet another bombshell:  The current endowment of Columbia is nearly $15 billion dollars ($14.8 billion as of June, 2024 to be exact). Mr. Allman was astounded not only that our educational institutions received such vast amounts of money, but--perhaps even more troublesome--why there was no outrage from US taxpayers about such an outward flow of public dollars.

Ask yourself:  Should heavily endowed institutions continue to receive such large funding? Should they receive any public funding at all? And why have college tuition increases generally outpaced the rate of inflation--sometimes dramatically so?