The University of Notre Dame apparently has been or will be awarded money through the Cares Act PPP program which was earmarked to help small businesses retain its workers. The University endowment at the end of fiscal 2019 was $13.8 billion placing it in the Top 10 of all universities. At the end of 2018 that number stood at $13.1 billion so 2019 was indeed a very good year as investments grew at 7.2% according to financials. As of this moment the University is stating that it will keep its PPP money and apply it to student's tuition who come from families hard hit in some fashion by the pandemic. Attending ND is a privilege, honor and above all else a choice. It is not a necessity. But for hundreds of thousands of small businesses brought to the brink in five weeks by a government mandated shutdown this money could mean sink or swim in the very near term. To me, this is a gross and embarrassing stance by ND given their huge endowment status. Will they buckle like many of the Ivy League schools did and some of the major corporations and return any funds they may have gotten? As of this moment Columbia intends to keep their $12.8 million in spite of their flush finances. Who wants to take a shot at this one?
The CARES act has special provisions for universities. This was different from the funds allocated for small businesses. Here is part of the act according to the National Law Review. 14.25 billion in emergency relief for institutions of higher education to deal with coronavirus-related fallout. Colleges and universities may use the funds to defray relevant expenses, such as lost revenue, distance education costs, and grants to students for food, housing, course materials, technology, health care, and child care. Institutions will have wide latitude on how they disperse the funds, but at least 50 percent must go directly to coronavirus-related student relief efforts (e.g. food, housing, course materials, etc.). That means that up to 50 percent can cover other things like “lost revenue,” a term that can be construed broadly, likely to include expected tuition revenue, technology licensing and athletics revenue. So, institutions that are hurting financially from the loss of many avenues of expected income will get some relief, and will have fairly wide latitude in how they realize these funds as revenue in their budgets. And, while at least 50 percent of the funds must go to student relief, it will still be important revenue that institutions otherwise could not realize – and using those funds to cover student food, housing, course materials, etc, should help mitigate the enrollment crunch than many anticipate in the coming fall semester. The act does not earmark any funds for university research, but it does permit schools to include research-related losses and disruptions in the up-to-50-percent total, above. Funds will be allocated to institutions pro rata based on their adjusted enrollment. The adjusted-enrollment formula gives 75 percent weight to Pell-eligible students, and 25 percent weight to Pell-ineligible students. Students who were solely distance learners prior to the pandemic are excluded from the calculus. In general and in short, the larger the institution, and the greater the share of Pell-eligible students, the more money the institution will receive.
I'll buy that , Gipper. But how does a private school sitting on $13.8 billion dollars justify taking aid of any kind?
Isn't the more pressing question, why does Congress feel that it has to make these funds available to all universities. The answer is pretty simple. Check out this link to Obama contributors. You'll see Cal Berkley gave 1.2 mil, Harvard 660K, Stanford 500K and Columbia 450K. The Dems do a quid pro quo using tax money to fund their campaigns. Top contributors to Obama's election campaign in 2012 | Statista