4 ms·
One one hand, donating to improve the chances of one's kid getting admitted is kind of scummy. On the other hand, the immense amount of money that gets donated
by manfredo 8y ago
One one hand, donating to improve the chances of one's kid getting admitted is kind of scummy. On the other hand, the immense amount of money that gets donated is why elite schools are able to give very generous financial aid. Stanford doesn't even charge tuition if parents make less than $125,000 per year. On principle I'm adverse to wealthy people buying opportunities, but if buying opportunities creates more of them for other people then I think that may be a net good.
- munk-a 8y agoIf the school would benefit from that building why should it be dependent on a rich kid needing to get in to secure that funding? If that rich family didn't end up having a kid that needed to get into that school then the building would never be built - but the family is certainly able to afford funding the construction of that building. I think that's unfair in it's own way on all parties involved.
- manfredo 8y agoPeople rarely give stuff away for free. Philanthropy often serves as a political tool, and a means to increase one's social status. University donations are no different. Families are more willing to donate if they believe that it improves the chances of their kids getting admitted to university.
- asdff 8y agoIn most cases philanthropy is for the tax benefit, everything else is just dressing.
- rurp 8y agoIs there some tax benefit beyond the deduction, or do these people not understand how marginal tax brackets work?
- lawnchair_larry 8y agoIt’s a good way to identify who is either not of taxpaying age or has never made a donation before. In either case, probably not someone who has things figured out yet enough to hold strong opinions on what other people do with their money.
- kortilla 8y agoI don’t think you know how deductions work. You can never make money by giving a donation.
- xenadu02 8y agoRich people only have so many kids. For the price of admitting ~2 students every 25 years or so you get a free building or an endowment that pays the way for 10s or 100s of students every single year. Thanks to the current tax environment the school doesn't have some alternate choice; the state is not going to step in and provide that funding. As an administrator do you take the money or do you skip out on expanding a department or admitting 20 kids who need a full ride scholarship to attend?