Members of Congress have flagged two areas of concern relating to colleges and universities: the ever increasing salaries of FBS football head coaches; and for-profits converting to nonprofit status while still maintaining financial ties to insiders.
Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ), Chairman of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight, has expanded his probe of college coaching salaries by sending letters to Stanford University and Rutgers University about their compensation of head football coaches. These letters follow ones to Michigan State University and University of Miami last month, and to LSU and USC late last year. All of the letters ask about highly compensated university employees generally as well as about the compensation of football and basketball coaches. They also ask about the contribution of athletics to the universities’ educational missions, student financial aid, and the revenues, expenses, governance, and facilities of athletic departments. Hat tip: EO Tax Journal.
Separately, the Washington Post reports that House Committee on Education and Labor is investigating payments relating to nonprofits Keiser University and Everglades University after they took over operation of previously for-profit institutions. The focus of the investigation is on millions of dollars received by Arthur Keiser, his family, and related businesses for various services, including chartered air travel and rent for properties used by the schools. See Committee Press Release (linking to a Letter from the Committee’s Chairman to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona (incorrectly dated 2021)). The investigation is in the wake of a GAO report on the almost 60 conversions of for-profit colleges to nonprofit status from January 2011 to August 2020. Hat tip: Chronicle of Philanthropy.
Lloyd Mayer
