To: Sen. Jon Tester (MT-1)
Max Baucus: Investigate NYU's Finances
ASK Max Baucus, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, to investigate NYU’s finances.
Congress has been trying to address the student debt crisis, but it hasn’t done nearly enough. NYU is a poster child for student debt. The nation’s most expensive college ($62k), it graduates students with a debt burden more than 40% above the national average. Yet the administration of President John Sexton has been rocked by accusations that tuition fees are being mis-used to fatten the bank accounts of top administrators. Revelations have appeared in the press about excessive compensation, extravagant forgivable loans, and the purchase of vacation homes for the university’s senior officers.
Senator Grassley, a minority member of the Finance Committee, has been trying to extract a full fiscal accounting from NYU, but he lacks subpoena power and needs the additional legal authority to get the facts out to the public.
ASK Senator Baucus to lend his committee chair’s authority to a full bipartisan inquiry. Resolving the student debt burden is a priority for both parties.
Students and their families have a right to know how their hard-earned tuition dollars are being allocated. Universities should comply, in the interests of fiscal transparency. Shining the spotlight on a school like NYU will help bring that goal closer. Private universities receive massive amounts of public money, including federal student loans. Knowing more about their finances is directly in the public interest.
ASK Senator Baucus to take a leading role in the crusade to open the books of the nation’s universities. Student debtors need to know why college costs are skyrocketing.
Congress has been trying to address the student debt crisis, but it hasn’t done nearly enough. NYU is a poster child for student debt. The nation’s most expensive college ($62k), it graduates students with a debt burden more than 40% above the national average. Yet the administration of President John Sexton has been rocked by accusations that tuition fees are being mis-used to fatten the bank accounts of top administrators. Revelations have appeared in the press about excessive compensation, extravagant forgivable loans, and the purchase of vacation homes for the university’s senior officers.
Senator Grassley, a minority member of the Finance Committee, has been trying to extract a full fiscal accounting from NYU, but he lacks subpoena power and needs the additional legal authority to get the facts out to the public.
ASK Senator Baucus to lend his committee chair’s authority to a full bipartisan inquiry. Resolving the student debt burden is a priority for both parties.
Students and their families have a right to know how their hard-earned tuition dollars are being allocated. Universities should comply, in the interests of fiscal transparency. Shining the spotlight on a school like NYU will help bring that goal closer. Private universities receive massive amounts of public money, including federal student loans. Knowing more about their finances is directly in the public interest.
ASK Senator Baucus to take a leading role in the crusade to open the books of the nation’s universities. Student debtors need to know why college costs are skyrocketing.
Why is this important?
Congress has not done nearly enough to target student debt. NYU, the nation's most expensive college, and a leader in student debt, is a poster child for financial mismanagement. Republican Senator Grassley has been trying to investigate, but Democrats on the committee are dragging their feet.