House GOP Urges Higher Taxes on University Endowments

In its initial tax plan released Monday, the House Ways and Means Committee is suggesting higher taxes on private university endowments, The Hill reported.

The 389-page bill, "the one big, beautiful bill" that would fund President Donald Trump's domestic legislative agenda, proposes from a 1.4% to 21% increase on endowment taxes, according to the report.

The tiers, according to the tax proposal released by the committee chaired by Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo.:

1.4% in the case of an institution with a student adjusted endowment in excess of $500,000, and not in excess of $750,000
7% in the case of an institution with a student adjusted endowment in excess of $750,000, and not in excess of $1,250,000
14% in the case of an institution with a student adjusted endowment in excess of $1,250,000, and not in excess of $2,000,000
21% in the case of an institution with a student adjusted endowment in excess of $2,000,000

Harvard, for one, would see a 21% bump. Harvard's endowment, at roughly $52 billion, is reportedly the largest at any U.S. university and would face annual taxes of more than $500 million.

Harvard has the full attention of the Trump administration, which has accused the university of not doing enough to act on antisemitism and has assailed the Cambridge, Massachusetts, institution for its diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.

The Trump administration has already frozen $2.2 billion in federal grants $60 million in contracts over Harvard's refusal to adhere to new government policies on admissions, masking, hiring, and activism, specifically its handling of pro-Palestinian demonstrations. Trump has also threatened to remove Harvard's tax-exempt status.

"This isn't about free speech," Education Secretary Linda McMahon told Newsmax last month. "What upset us about the investigations were really about civil rights. It was antisemitism on campus. It was student safety."