Opinion: Top Universities Aren’t Paying Their Fair Share

Local governments have a strong case for asking major private universities, particularly those with lucrative business operations, to pay a greater share toward maintaining public services, according to a Wall Street Journal column.

James Piereson, president of the William E. Simon Foundation, and Naomi Schaefer Riley, author of the 2011 book The Faculty Lounges, cite recent “town-gown” disputes over taxes or payments in lieu of taxes, notably a lawsuit by Princeton, N.J., residents that aims to restrict Princeton University’s tax exemption.

Elite institutions such as Princeton earn tens of millions of dollars a year from patents and on-campus performances, stores, and cafes and increasingly function like big companies, the authors write. With cities and towns struggling financially, “it’s hard to blame public officials and taxpayers for wondering why well-off educational institutions aren’t sharing the load” for police, fire, sanitation, and other services, they say.