While American small businesses were shut out of getting funds from the Paycheck Protection Plan from the CARES Act, Harvard University scored big by grabbing almost $9 million in taxpayer funds. The fact that the Ivy League college has an incredibly healthy endowment fund. But this did not matter to the politicians who inserted a giveaway into the coronavirus stimulus bill.
Harvard Is Endowment Rich
Harvard is America’s richest university. The Ivy League giant is already supported by a huge $41 billion in endowments.
That is the largest college endowment in the country. As a matter of fact, according to The Crimson, Harvard’s is the largest university endowment in the world.
They hardly are in a precarious situation as many small business owners have found themselves in as the economy is at a standstill because of the pandemic.
In addition to its massive endowment, Harvard ended last year with a $300 million operating surplus.
https://twitter.com/Salacia_sea/status/1251715735799422978?s=20
Harvard Nets $9 Million Paycheck Protection Plan
This windfall is supposed to go towards tuition payments and course materials, ending right back into Harvard’s bank accounts.
Some of the relief funds will likely also go to extra technology, food and housing costs that students incurred amid “disruptions in their education” because of the pandemic.
From Yahoo:
Though Education Secretary Betsy DeVos hailed the program in a statement earlier this month, a spokesperson later told Newsweek that DeVos “shares the concern that sending millions to schools with significant endowments is a poor use of taxpayer money.”
The money is part of nearly $14 billion in the $2 trillion CARES package allocated for higher education institutions and students as colleges and universities across the nation have shut classrooms and launched online learning.
Aid amounts for universities and colleges were based on a formula set by Congress weighted heavily in favor of institutions with significant proportions of low-income students on federally funded Pell grants. The formula apparently does not take into account the financial need of an institution.
Even with the aid, several smaller, financially struggling colleges may be forced to close permanently, Bloomberg reported.
Harvard Lays Off Workers
The notorious left wing Ivy League school was lambasted last month for laying off cafeteria workers without offering any unemployment benefits as the university’s coffers remain full.
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Tens of millions of Americans are suffering job losses. These people are concerned about how they can even pay their grocery bills.
Harvard’s money grab was noticed on social media by people who truly are more deserving than the United State’s wealthiest college.
https://twitter.com/LisaTurnage12/status/1251895482672168960?s=20
This is what happens when politicians pick winners and losers in this manner.
New York-based burger chain Shake Shack just announced that it is returning its entire $10 million PPP loan. The CEO said that these funds should go to the smaller businesses who need it more.
So who thinks the Harvard elites will step up and do the same?
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