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Discussion » Questions » Education » Did you hear that Trump wants to build a free university — and make Harvard pay for it?
Nanoose

Did you hear that Trump wants to build a free university — and make Harvard pay for it?

In a new campaign policy video, Trump is pledging to create a federally funded online university that awards free degrees — one where “wokeness or jihadism” are not allowed.

Trump wants to tax large private university endowments to pay for a new institution called “American Academy.

Trump has already had a failed university that ripped off students so I don’t think he should get back into the education game. Cheers!

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/11/01/trump-free-online-university-00124905

Posted - November 2, 2023
Tags : None

Responses


  • 2788
    I believe university endowments are generally made by alumni of those schools.  I'm not sure Trump would have the legal authority to take private money from those institutions.
      November 2, 2023 7:04 AM MDT
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  • 9921
    Trump wants to tax endowments to pay for this. I'm not sure whether he means taxing charitable contributions or taxing non-profit public colleges and universities. Either way, it's just another indication of his cognitive decline. This post was edited by Jane S at November 2, 2023 1:37 PM MDT
      November 2, 2023 8:35 AM MDT
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  • 13259
    Harvard is not a public university. While I don’t support Trump, I don’t think taxing a school with an endowment north of $50 billion is a terrible idea, especially now with the university’s tolerance of antisemitic violence and other hateful acts on its campus.
      November 2, 2023 8:47 AM MDT
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  • 2788
    I understand your position in light of the antisemitism issue.  However, considering that Harvard doesn't take public funds, I don't think that money should be touched by the government.  I'm sure there are other taxes that could be levied without causing much harm to that individual.  It bothers me that billionaires pay a lower percentage in taxes than I do because of all their loopholes.  
      November 2, 2023 11:13 AM MDT
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  • 13259
    Harvard doesn’t get public money, but Cornell as a hybrid public/private university does.

    Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, College of Human Ecology, School of Industrial and Labor Relations, and College of Veterinary Medicine are each part of the State University of New York and charge lower tuition than the schools endowed units: The College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning, the School of Hotel Administration, the Johnson School of Business, plus the College of Medicine and Cornell Tech here in NYC.

    Tuition is lower in the SUNY units because of funding received from the state.

    Cornell will need to do without the $75-150 I have donated most years, lol.
      November 2, 2023 2:40 PM MDT
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  • 2788
    Several of my nieces and nephews attended SUNY schools.  Thanks to their parents' planning and the fact that they are NYS residents, none of them are burdened with crushing tuition loans.  
      November 2, 2023 8:35 PM MDT
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  • 13259
    SUNY can be a good value.

    The SUNY units at Cornell cost more to attend than the SUNY campuses, but they are still less than the private units, and students still earn Cornell degrees.
      November 2, 2023 10:43 PM MDT
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  • 2788
    I'm not sure which units the kids attended, but I'm pretty sure one of them have Cornell diplomas.
      November 3, 2023 8:11 AM MDT
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  • 13259
    If they attended SUNY campuses like Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo, New Paltz, Oneonta, etc., they didn’t attend Cornell.

    If they attended a Cornell SUNY unit, it was likely Agriculture and Life Sciences, Human Ecology, or Industrial and Labor Relations.
      November 3, 2023 9:24 AM MDT
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  • 2788
    Yup, they went to Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo and one other that I can't recall.
      November 3, 2023 12:24 PM MDT
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  • 9921
    Just what we need, a university that only teaches what the government wants us to know. And if the government can also take money away from legitimate universities, we're well on our way to the authoritarian government that MAGA morons want.
      November 2, 2023 8:31 AM MDT
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  • 32726
    Authorization government that MAGA wants????

    No, MAGA does not want to the Authorization government. We think the majority of the time government is the problem and needs to get out.
      November 2, 2023 6:08 PM MDT
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  • 13259
    Harvard and other elite universities like Columbia, Cornell, Pennsylvania, and Tulane are a disgrace and should be ashamed of themselves for their tolerance of antisemitic violence and hatred against other groups on their campuses.

    Harvard has an endowment of more than $50 billion, so the university can afford it.

    Even poorer schools like Columbia ($13 billion endowment) and Cornell ($10 billion) can afford it).

    There are a lot of reasons to disagree with and ridicule Trump, but this isn’t one of them.
      November 2, 2023 9:06 AM MDT
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  • 2788
    How about raising taxes on all the billionaires in this country?  They can lose in a day on their stock what all of us don't earn in a lifetime and it's peanuts to them.  Houses of worship don't pay real estate taxes.  Why?  
      November 2, 2023 11:16 AM MDT
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  • 9921
    Just FYI, Harvard does not pay property tax.  I don't know all the ins and outs of property tax on non-profits, but I assume it varies by state and locality. 
      November 2, 2023 11:29 AM MDT
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  • 2788
    LOL ... with a $50 billion endowment, there really isn't any reason why Harvard should not pay property taxes.  Same for any other institution with billions.  Hard to think of them as "non-profit" with that much money in the bank.
      November 2, 2023 8:39 PM MDT
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  • 13259
    How do you realistically propose to do that?
      November 2, 2023 10:44 PM MDT
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  • 2788
    I would imagine that they would be taxed using much the same criteria as any other real estate.  
      November 3, 2023 8:09 AM MDT
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  • 1928
    He's an idiot! 
      November 2, 2023 9:21 AM MDT
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  • 13259
    True, but he’s not wrong about this.
      November 2, 2023 9:42 AM MDT
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  • 10558

    When I first heard about Trump’s free university I thought it was a great idea and I started to wonder if I had been too hard on Trump – then a pod of sea monkeys swam out of my butt.

    The words “no wokeness allowed” is a gimps of what his university would be like. A history class on how slavery was a good thing because the slaves learned a trade and other BS like that. Trump's university will be nothing more than his governments way of telling people what to think. Cheers!

    This post was edited by Nanoose at November 2, 2023 8:10 PM MDT
      November 2, 2023 3:37 PM MDT
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