Worth fighting for 大美法案MIT 呼唤反击

网上看到 MIT 校长萨莉·科恩布鲁斯（Sally Kornbluth）最近给社区的一封信，即使我已经知道特不靠谱对哈佛大学百般刁难，这封信还是超过我的预期。没想到两院通过的税收法案里竟然都有对高校加税的条款。

目前，像 MIT 麻省理工学院这样的机构对其投资收益缴纳1.4%的税。

• 参议院版本的法案将把这项捐赠基金的税率提高到8%
• 众议院版本提出对 Endowment 投资收益更高的税率，惩罚性的21%

校长也举例更形象的说明带来的直接冲击：对麻省理工学院 MIT 来说，即使是参议院拟议的增税额度，也相当于其每年本科生助学金的全部预算。这笔预算目前每年资助着约2600名学生，占本科生总数的60%左右，让更多有才华的学子能够接受麻省理工学院的教育。试想一下，如果这笔资助被削减，将带来怎样的连锁反应？

这还是在所有美国国家机构科研经费缩减的基础上，本来项目组申请经费就困难，现在高校自身的投资收益又减少，双向打击。如果法案通过并且在下一届政府中持续，这将对美国的教育和前沿研究带来深远的影响。

• 教育对家庭的门槛将大幅提高，有钱和贫穷家庭的差距会越来越大。
• 基于高校的创新和前沿研究变慢，更多教授会选择去工业界，这是否也会导致高校教育质量和竞争力的下降？
• 由于企业基础研究还是偏少，也意味着基础研究的衰落？

东大能不能抓住这次机会？加上最近的免签政策，能吸引全球的同学们来申请我们的 211,985，世界的教授们来我们这申请 NSF，重大项目，那全面复兴指日可待。

回归短期现实，希望在最终法案里能有更好的情况出现。最后附上校长邮件的原文，我觉得写的很好，很诚恳，很重要。

附上原文

Worth fighting for: MIT and American science, innovation and education

In a letter last fall, I offered fresh evidence of how MIT continues to live out its mission and values, with direct benefits to the American people. In April, I sought your help in convincing Congress that federally supported university research is crucial to the country’s health, wealth and national security.

Today, I write again to seek your help – with even greater urgency.

In the coming days – very likely before July 4th – the Senate will vote on next year’s tax bill. Like a number of other leading universities, MIT has turned generations of alumni support into a substantial endowment; we use the income from those investments overwhelmingly to support financial aid and research.

MIT now pays a 1.4% tax on that investment income. The current Senate version of the bill would hike this endowment tax rate to 8%.

To give you a sense of scale, for MIT that proposed tax hike is equivalent to our entire annual undergraduate financial aid budget, which provides aid to about 60% of our undergraduates or about 2,600 students every year.

Worse still, the rate in the House version of the bill jumps to 21% – an even more punishing blow to MIT, and to American science, innovation and education.

There’s no way to tell what the House and the Senate will agree to – but there is still time to change the outcome.

Any increase in taxes on these charitable resources would be a permanent, self-inflicted wound to the national security, health and prosperity of the American people. So I urge you to make that case now to US senators and representatives who represent you or whom you may know.

The MIT Alumni Association offers practical tools for shaping and sending a letter to representatives in the House and Senate, and you’ll find further compelling resources on our new Understanding MIT page.

As we’ve all seen, MIT and many of our peers have faced a range of recent threats. The proposed endowment tax is not the first, and – given looming cuts to next year’s agency research budgets – it won’t be the last. But in the case of MIT, it represents the most serious current threat.

If you believe MIT and America’s leadership in science, innovation and education are worth fighting for, now is the time for action.

Sincerely,

Sally Kornbluth