Protecting Wellesley’s Promise

For a century and a half, Wellesley graduates have been so moved by their Wellesley experience and their passion for the College’s mission that they have given generously to our endowment so that future generations of women could have the same experience. Their philanthropy has ensured that Wellesley lives up to its values and meets its commitments to its students through need-blind financial aid, transformative academics, and opportunities that prepare them to make a difference in the world.

“Our endowment allows the Wellesley community to be socioeconomically diverse and makes us a place where students can discover, in the words of our second president, Alice Freeman Palmer, ‘the wealth that lies in differences.’”

Since 2017, Wellesley has been subject to a federal excise tax of 1.4% on our endowment income, a tax imposed on private colleges and universities that have more than $500,000 of endowment
per student.

This tax already costs Wellesley College about $3 million annually—the equivalent of 35 full scholarships—and now, worse is threatened. A number of bills in Congress propose expanding the tax to a larger number of institutions or increasing the amount dramatically, potentially up to 35% for institutions with at least $10 billion in assets. Several state legislatures are considering similarly punitive measures.

Unfortunately, the people who will be hurt most by new endowment taxes are talented students without family wealth.

Because of our endowment, we are able to offer brilliant students a Wellesley education regardless of their financial circumstances. Our endowment allows the Wellesley community to be socioeconomically diverse and makes us a place where students can discover, in the words of our second president, Alice Freeman Palmer, “the wealth that lies in differences.” Our endowment income, which contributes a large portion—45%—of our operating budget, also supports our excellent academic program.

A higher tax on endowments would put some of our cherished ideals at risk, including our commitments to need-blind admission and meeting full financial need for students. We can’t limit this conversation to Congress and elite institutions. We want you—our alumnae, our ambassadors—to understand this issue so that all of us can speak to an American public whose declining confidence in higher education is based partly on cost and value perceptions.

Yes, a residential college education is expensive, but endowments enable colleges like Wellesley to charge students far less than the actual cost of educating them—at minimal cost to taxpayers. Punishing colleges because of the mistaken belief that they don’t contribute enough to the country will make it more expensive to attend college, something no one wants.

But this debate is about far more than dollars. Endowments have helped give the United States the best system of higher education in the world. Schools like Wellesley prove their worth by educating leaders and innovators who make outsized contributions to our economy and society. And because of its endowment, Wellesley remains a vehicle for social mobility in a country that no longer supports the American Dream as energetically as it once did.

At Wellesley, our endowment is the lifeblood of the College. It is the accumulated force of many, many gifts made out of sheer love and a belief in the power Wellesley has to change lives. It is the collective promise of the Wellesley community to future generations of women that if they work hard in school, a Wellesley education will remain within reach—no matter their family income.

I am now enlisting the most powerful women’s network in the world to deliver that message as widely as possible.

It needs to be heard everywhere.