Tags
(DHS), (DOD), (DOT), (NSF), agencies, American Institute of Research, congressman, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Transportation, Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, government, grants, National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, research, senator, subsidies, taxpayers, Trump, Universities
Looking at the myriad of ways that universities are getting money from the government and therefore the taxpayers, I believe something needs to be done.
We know that universities get grant money for research work. In most cases this is legitimate and justified. There are the not so useful research grants too however, such as research on barbecue cooking in residential areas in Africa, or studies monitoring how much water hotel guests use.
We know universities receive operational funding from the federal government as well as money to fund tuition subsidies. Many universities have direct ties to government agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institutes of Health, the Department of Transportation (DOT), and the Department of Defense (DOD) and on and on.
It appears the federal government has never seen a grant request from a university that it didn’t like. Add to that other “awards and subsidies” bestowed on universities simply for having the right ear of the right congressman or senator at the right time.
In 2014, just the NIH awarded over $30.1 billion in grants to universities and medical schools around the world. Broken down in a study from 2013 by the American Institute of Research, taxpayer subsidies for most colleges and universities average between $8,000 to more than $100,000 for each bachelor’s degree. Put this into context with the tuition paid by the student, plus state and private grant money awarded to students for tuition, universities are pocketing enormous sums of taxpayer money and leave the students with enormous debt while they rake in the cash.
We can only hope that president Trump will look closely enough at the spending of his various departments to realize the enormous waste that just continues year after year without check driving our country further and further into debt. We taxpayers really need some help here.
