The Senate tax bill represents a significant
improvement over the measure passed by the House. We are especially
pleased that the Senate recognizes the importance of education benefits
that help millions of middle- and lower-income students and families
finance a college education. We hope that any final legislation will
leave these critically important benefits in place.
It also is important that the Senate bill
reduces the number of institutions affected by the proposed tax on the
endowments of private colleges and universities. While the idea of
taxing endowments remains fundamentally flawed, this step will enable
about 40 more institutions to direct their resources to student aid,
research, faculty salaries, and other educational purposes rather than
diverting some of them to the U.S. Treasury.
But the Senate bill also includes problematic
provisions. The change to the standard deduction would result in
reduced charitable deductions, which could easily undermine all
nonprofit institutions, including colleges and universities, through a
loss of charitable gifts. We also are concerned that changes to the
state and local tax deduction would harm state budgets, with resulting
serious implications for state investment in public higher education.
As a result, we are deeply concerned that at a
time when postsecondary degrees and credentials have never been more
important to individuals, the economy, and our society, the tax reform
proposal approved by the Senate could make college more expensive and
undermine the financial stability of higher education institutions. This
is simply wrong-headed.