Bryn Mawr College is bracing for a potential increase in the tax on its endowment earnings, warning that this change could affect financial aid and other programs, writes Susan Snyder for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
President Donald Trump’s administration has already targeted research funding and grants at some of the wealthiest colleges in the country, and the tax increase that is likely to follow. Proposals have been circulating to broaden the tax, enacted by Congress during Trump’s first term as president, to apply to more colleges and raise the levy.
Bryn Mawr College is one of only four colleges in the region subject to the existing 1.4 percent excise tax. Some proposals call for raising the tax to as high as 35 percent, though estimates suggest the final rate may settle between 14 percent and 21 percent.
Such an increase would require Bryn Mawr and other colleges to pay many millions more in taxes, draining the funds that support student financial aid, research, and other programs.
Bryn Mawr, a women’s college with a $1.2 billion endowment, relies on endowment earnings for 35 percent to 40 percent of its annual budget.
Read more about the potential tax increases on endowments at Bryn Mawr College in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
