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Why I’m Giving $1.8B for College Financial Aid

nytimes.com

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Re: Why I’m Giving $1.8B for College Financial Aid

#101

Post by eli_gottlieb »

jseliger wrote: post #2

This is a fine thing to do with $1.8B and that amount could be used in worse ways. Still: Together, the federal and state governments should make a new commitment to improving access to college and reducing the often prohibitive burdens debt places on so many students and families. There may be no better investment that we can make in the future of the American dream — and the promise of equal opportunity for all. At…

>So we get an array of problems: we are all, in a way, paying for the party: https://jakeseliger.com/2014/04/27/paying-for-the-party-eliz.... Already prestigious schools like Hopkins compete primarily to raise their own prestige, rather than improve access. Why do most such schools admit fewer students per capita than they did in 1950? Why are they so interested in discriminatory children-of-alumni admissions?

Thanks for raising these issues, as a well-evidenced contrast to the "usual" complaint that our society provides too much access to higher education.

I largely agree with your analysis. The question isn't too much or too little. It's: who gets how much of what? If some students are deprived of vocational opportunities while others are stuck in understaffed, lower-tier institutions than their abilities warrant, society is leaving productivity and human well-being on the table in both cases.

Re: Why I’m Giving $1.8B for College Financial Aid

#102

Post by evanelias »

Retric wrote: post #92
evanelias wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Does he just want a wing of the library named after him or something No, as there are already numerous Hopkins things bearing Bloomberg's name for many years -- including a 7-story physics/astronomy building, and the entire graduate public health school. The new $1.8B is in addition to previous total gifts of $1.5B. Bloomberg previously established a scholarship program for high-achieving incoming undergrads, but i…

> it's Bloomberg's money A large chunk of that money is subsidized by tax payers, as he would not keep the 1.8 Billion if he had bought a sports team or other vanity project that was not tax deductible. I am not saying spending taxpayer money to promote giving is a bad idea, but it is an expensive one that’s generally forgotten about.

I don't follow this line of reasoning. It's his money, not taxpayer money. If he simply held on to the money, he would not owe additional tax on it either.

Perhaps it will eliminate his personal tax bill for 2018, but his yearly income is far less than $1.8B, and his tax bill is only a portion of his yearly income... the tax implications of this gift are only a small portion of the amount.

Re: Why I’m Giving $1.8B for College Financial Aid

#103

Post by manigandham »

Zungaron wrote: post #91
manigandham wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Considering academia is vastly one-sided politically, influences the minds of entire graduating generations, and there has been fallout in major companies and even laws passed, the issues around "social justice" are in fact real and much bigger than you may think.

Maybe academia would be less politically one-sided if the other side hadn't built their brand on ignoring science in all its forms.

That's an inflammatory statement that offers nothing productive. There's no political party against science, and there's just as much non-scientific dogmatic content from both ends of the spectrum.

Re: Why I’m Giving $1.8B for College Financial Aid

#104

Post by manigandham »

addicted wrote: post #86
nickthemagicman wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your view of college seems to be very media influenced. Just like 99.9% of Arabic people aren't terrorists, 99.9% of college students aren't 'safe space triggered social justice warriors'. Maybe you should grab a statistics class at a nearby college. ;). The media has really painted college students in a bad light. There's such a wide variety of students and personalities. It's a great place to share ideas and form n…

As the spouse of someone who suffers from depression and suicidal thinking the outrage against “trigger warnings” really pisses me off. Trigger warnings are just that. Warnings. We watched A Star is Born, and having my spouse go back on almost a years worth of progress and treatment when a single “trigger warning” could have avoided that is beyond enraging. And what’s most hypocritical is the people who are complaini…

The underlying fact is that everything is subjective and trying to enumerate every possible situation that someone may react to is impossible. Why is it not the responsibility of the individual to learn more about the movie by checking the ratings and synopsis?

Can you explain what exactly a trigger warning would even contain that somehow helps here? It seems that if a single movie can unwind a "years worth of progress" then the situation is rather critical and movies are the least of your concerns. How do you label everyday life with such warnings?

Re: Why I’m Giving $1.8B for College Financial Aid

#105

Post by hbosch »

akulbe wrote: post #63

I realize I'm likely going to be a dissenting opinion here… but I'm not sure this is a good investment. Unless you're going to enter a field that requires the pedigree that starts with college (i.e. medicine, law, engineering), it's arguable that college isn't even worth the tuition you pay for it. Like another commenter says, they have no incentive to do anything that will reduce costs. The quality of the education…

A large function of a college degree is simply getting past the Baby Boomer gatekeepers that own your future job.

Re: Why I’m Giving $1.8B for College Financial Aid

#106

Post by analog31 »

mcny wrote: post #42

I think the real answer is: 1. Higher income tax across the board 2. Decreased wages for college and University staff. Fewer executive and bureaucratic positions. Just at one CUNY college there are about one hundred positions at or above the level of a department chair. It has fewer than 17k students enrolled. 3. Eliminate all competitive sports across all schools and colleges. This is just noise that nobody needs. 4…

>>> Also, it makes no sense for a college to have to pay for campus police. Who came up with this nonsense idea?

Who should pay for police services on a college campus? I live in the shadow of a big ten university with the population of a small city and a huge number of public events including home football games. They college pays no property taxes. Paying for campus police, ultimately out of the state budget, is a way to cover the cost of that service, which has to come from somewhere. A community of that size needs a certain amount of police service.

Re: Why I’m Giving $1.8B for College Financial Aid

#107

Post by gboudrias »

Good to see philanthropy from up high.

That said, I haven't seen the term "American dream" used unironically in years. I've never been shown it as something worth reviving, insofar as it's deeply intertwined with notions like savage capitalism. For you and ourselves I'd rather have a great American awakening. But maybe I'm arguing semantics.

Re: Why I’m Giving $1.8B for College Financial Aid

#108

Post by evanelias »

yelloweyes wrote: post #32
kristianp wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is just insane that 1.8B should be spent on just Johns Hopkins. This doesn't sound like anywhere near the most efficient way to help the most students who are missing out on places because the institution looks at their ability to pay. Does Bloomberg have an alterior motive to limit his donations to just his Alma Mater? Does he just want a wing of the library named after him or something? I'm frustrated reading th…

1.8B is not that much, really. at 50k tuition, that's only 36k people.

Coincidentally (or not?), Harvard's equivalent program has awarded $1.8B in need-based grants since it was launched in 2005 [1]. Perhaps that gives a rough ballpark of how long this amount of money will last.

[1] https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2018/03/the-personal-...

Re: Why I’m Giving $1.8B for College Financial Aid

#109

Post by freditup »

akulbe wrote: post #63

I realize I'm likely going to be a dissenting opinion here… but I'm not sure this is a good investment. Unless you're going to enter a field that requires the pedigree that starts with college (i.e. medicine, law, engineering), it's arguable that college isn't even worth the tuition you pay for it. Like another commenter says, they have no incentive to do anything that will reduce costs. The quality of the education…

Quality declining is an interesting point that's hard to quantify. I went to a very well-viewed public school, and a large potion of my classes were quite unimpressive. (Think poor teaching; questions/answers to exams basically provided to you the night before the exam by the TA, exams graded on a ludicrous curve such that you don't really have to master anything, etc.)

Friends of mine who have stayed around the university swear that things have only gotten worse since our time, with the rise of more and more online classes and less and less true understanding expected.

I can't provide hard data on whether quality of education is declining, but I can say that large parts of my education were somewhat suspect.

Re: Why I’m Giving $1.8B for College Financial Aid

#110

Post by thosakwe »

akulbe wrote: post #63

I realize I'm likely going to be a dissenting opinion here… but I'm not sure this is a good investment. Unless you're going to enter a field that requires the pedigree that starts with college (i.e. medicine, law, engineering), it's arguable that college isn't even worth the tuition you pay for it. Like another commenter says, they have no incentive to do anything that will reduce costs. The quality of the education…

> It feels like colleges are turning into breeding grounds for social justice warriors more than they're turning out folks who are prepared to enter the workforce.

They’re not mutually exclusive. You can be a skilled worker, who also advocates for social justice... I don’t even see how one would obstruct the other.

I’m also wondering how this means that “the quality of education seems to be on the decline.”

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