C-SocPhil Director on Higher Ed Transparency
Humphreys interviewed by Tufts paper on college financial disclosures
BOSTON — Joshua Humphreys, senior associate and director of the Center for Social Philanthropy at Tellus Institute, was interviewed at length for an article in The Tufts Daily about pending legislation in the Massachusetts State House that would require fuller disclosure of financial information by private colleges.
The legislation, inspired in part by research on endowments and the financial crisis conducted by the Center for Social Philanthropy last year, would require annual reporting by colleges of investment holdings, excessive compensation, manager and consultant fees, trustee and employee conflicts of interest, and the costs of tax exemptions. The bill was sponsored by Sen. Patricia Jehlen, whose district includes Tufts University.
“Although tax exemption creates costs to the state … there are no good estimates for what those costs are,” Humphreys said. “This bill would require colleges to report on the cost of tax exemptions so that a more well-informed and robust debate can occur about costs and benefits.”
Hearings on the Massachusetts Higher Education Transparency Act will occur on Beacon Hill in June.
