Higher education insiders predict the nation’s top universities will pass the cost of a looming endowment tax hike onto students and donors, evading a Trump administration push to reduce expenses.
Starting next year, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act will increase the tax on private university endowments’ net investment gains from a flat 1.4% rate to a progressive levy ranging up to 8% for the nation’s wealthiest schools.
The conservative American Enterprise Institute estimates that 20 schools will pay $1.7 billion under higher excise rates in 2026, increasing to $2.5 billion in 2030 as more endowments grow and reach taxable levels. Most of next year’s tax revenue will come from Harvard University ($368.2 million), Yale University ($275.6 million), Princeton University ($217.4 million) and Stanford University ($202.5 million).
Trump administration officials insist the endowment tax increases will push woke campuses to spend more of their multibillion-dollar endowments on making education more