Kathryn, John (McCormack) and I have highlighted Sen. Tom Coburn’s investigation into years of earmarks won by higher education institutions, which have collected billions in federal awards.
In an email, Bryan O’Keefe of the Center for College Affordability and Productivity comments further:
This is a very important story, especially in light
of skyrocketing tuition. Hopefully we can discover
exactly how much lobbyists were paid to secure these
earmarks and then examine the true value of the
earmark itself. I am afraid that in many instances we
would find that the money spent on lobbyists would
have been better spent in other ways. Colleges and
universities, especially public institutions, should
be held accountable for their excessive expenses,
especially when they keep asking students for more
money in the form of tuition hikes or taxpayers for
more money in the form of greater appropriations.