Bloomberg donates $1.8B to Hopkins Fin Aid

[Vespasia]

Billion, with a B. 


www.wbaltv.com/article/michael-bloomberg-donates-dollar18b-to-johns-hopkins/25215933

In a statement released Sunday, Bloomberg said "America is at its best when we reward people based on the quality of their work, not the size of their pocketbook. Denying students entry to a college based on their ability to pay undermines equal opportunity. It perpetuates intergenerational poverty. And it strikes at the heart of the American dream: the idea that every person, from every community, has the chance to rise based on merit."


The statement said the donation is the largest gift to any academic institution in U.S. history, and it will be devoted to financial aid, allowing Hopkins to permanently offer need-blind admissions and eliminate the need for student loans in financial aid packages.

[isabel]

Wow. That’s impressive.

[aurora]

I'll admit to a bit of jealousy here. That's a lot of money to donate to one university.

[AJL]

That's terrific! I'm curious about the jealousy statement - what about his donation makes you jealous, aurora? Not a judgment.

[Velar Fricative]

It was already obvious, but this is yet another hint that he’s running for POTUS in 2020.

This is an amazing gift though.

[candreco]

That's amazing! It will absolutely change lives, both for people being able to attend college, and after graduation.

DH and I both went to a small, fully-endowed college, and so only paid room/board, books, and incidentals, no tuition. I think being able to enter the workforce debt-free gave us a lot more flexibility in the jobs we chose (entry-level government with better upward potential rather than taking a higher paying job with less opportunity to move), plus obviously the ability to save and contribute more toward retirement earlier.

[AndyCohen]

Nov 19, 2018 9:48:01 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

It was already obvious, but this is yet another hint that he’s running for POTUS in 2020.

This is an amazing gift though.

Yep. And he better not run as an independent when he loses the primary.

ETA: or is he only planning running independent?

[cattledogkisses]

Regardless of potential political aspirations this is an amazing act of philanthropy. I wish that more people with his kind of wealth felt inclined to do things like this.

[bex]

Wow, what an awesome donation.

[carmenere]

That's awesome. Too bad Republicans decided to tax university endowments (which provide financial aid, among other things) to pay for their tax cuts to the wealthy 

[seeyalater52]

Maybe he’ll give away enough of his money that he won’t be able to afford to self-finance his campaign. 😉

[mrsd2006]

Wow, that's a lot of money. I wonder how many billions he has left.

[goldengirlz]

Nov 19, 2018 10:23:55 GMT -5 mrsd2006 said:

Wow, that's a lot of money. I wonderful der how many billions he has left.

About $44-45 billion based on his recent net worth

[WOT?*]

Nov 19, 2018 9:52:34 GMT -5 AndyCohen said:

Nov 19, 2018 9:48:01 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

It was already obvious, but this is yet another hint that he’s running for POTUS in 2020.

This is an amazing gift though.

Yep. And he better not run as an independent when he loses the primary.

ETA: or is he only planning running independent?

I believe he recently (re)joined the Democratic Party. www.bostonglobe.com/news/nation/2018/10/10/bloomberg-changes-party-affiliation-back-democrat/LkxXrt0JZl54QfLKs2S2WN/story.html

www.nytimes.com/2018/09/17/us/politics/bloomberg-president-2020-democrat.html

[thelurkylulu]

Regardless of whether he’s running for president or not, that is an amazing gift. I think it’s wonderful.

[sugarbear]

That's incredible. I am glad he spoke about intergenerational poverty. I remember being shocked that my friends weren't even applying to colleges because they couldn't afford it. I remember telling them to get loans! grants! scholarships! Without realizing that unless they were super strong academically, many of those opportunities were still out of their reach.

Now I've got four degrees and haven't paid for a single one of them. I can trace each one "opportunity" rather than merit, too. I'm terrified that college will be prohibitively expensive for my own kids.

[aurora]

Nov 19, 2018 9:44:17 GMT -5 AJL said:

That's terrific! I'm curious about the jealousy statement - what about his donation makes you jealous, aurora? Not a judgment.

For other universities that can't compete with that sort of endowment!

And maybe just a tiny bit that I don't have $2B to donate myself.

[notsopicky]

Nov 19, 2018 11:57:16 GMT -5 sugarbear said:

That's incredible. I am glad he spoke about intergenerational poverty. I remember being shocked that my friends weren't even applying to colleges because they couldn't afford it. I remember telling them to get loans! grants! scholarships! Without realizing that unless they were super strong academically, many of those opportunities were still out of their reach.

Now I've got four degrees and haven't paid for a single one of them. I can trace each one to "opportunity" rather than merit, too. I'm terrified that college will be prohibitively expensive for my own kids.

I was so glad he mentioned the poverty aspect. I teach at a very low SES school, which has a robust AVID (college-prep/-advocacy) program. I worry for my students--we have drilled it into them that they can go, that there will be opportunities for them--when in reality, if/when they get there, they will be saddled with soul-crushing debt when they are done. I feel the exact same way about my three degrees--definitely opportunity over merit. 100%. 

[nsl]

Nov 19, 2018 15:52:11 GMT -5 notsopicky said:

Nov 19, 2018 11:57:16 GMT -5 sugarbear said:

That's incredible. I am glad he spoke about intergenerational poverty. I remember being shocked that my friends weren't even applying to colleges because they couldn't afford it. I remember telling them to get loans! grants! scholarships! Without realizing that unless they were super strong academically, many of those opportunities were still out of their reach.

Now I've got four degrees and haven't paid for a single one of them. I can trace each one to "opportunity" rather than merit, too. I'm terrified that college will be prohibitively expensive for my own kids.

I was so glad he mentioned the poverty aspect. I teach at a very low SES school, which has a robust AVID (college-prep/-advocacy) program. I worry for my students--we have drilled it into them that they can go, that there will be opportunities for them--when in reality, if/when they get there, they will be saddled with soul-crushing debt when they are done. I feel the exact same way about my three degrees--definitely opportunity over merit. 100%. 

Huge ditto to this.  In thirteen years of teaching in Title I schools, I can count exactly one student (out of over 1600!) who was given the kind of financial aid she truly needed to achieve her full academic potential in college and beyond without either going into the military or serious debt.  This endowment is going to attract a LOT of really amazing low-income kids to Johns Hopkins, and will hopefully inspire similarly generous donations by others who have far more money that they will ever need.

[katfco]

Nov 19, 2018 15:52:11 GMT -5 notsopicky said:

Nov 19, 2018 11:57:16 GMT -5 sugarbear said:

That's incredible. I am glad he spoke about intergenerational poverty. I remember being shocked that my friends weren't even applying to colleges because they couldn't afford it. I remember telling them to get loans! grants! scholarships! Without realizing that unless they were super strong academically, many of those opportunities were still out of their reach.

Now I've got four degrees and haven't paid for a single one of them. I can trace each one to "opportunity" rather than merit, too. I'm terrified that college will be prohibitively expensive for my own kids.

I was so glad he mentioned the poverty aspect. I teach at a very low SES school, which has a robust AVID (college-prep/-advocacy) program. I worry for my students--we have drilled it into them that they can go, that there will be opportunities for them--when in reality, if/when they get there, they will be saddled with soul-crushing debt when they are done. I feel the exact same way about my three degrees--definitely opportunity over merit. 100%. 

Yes. I teach at a low SES school and I'm trying to encourage my 5th grade students to see themselves as college-bound, but to see that they need to work hard NOW in order to make it happen. Just last week, I told them, "Work hard enough that someone else is willing to pay for your college."  

[LoveTrains]

Nov 19, 2018 10:04:05 GMT -5 carmenere said:

That's awesome. Too bad Republicans decided to tax university endowments (which provide financial aid, among other things) to pay for their tax cuts to the wealthy 

The most ridiculous part of the tax bill was the endowment tax. It’s a spiteful tax on what the conservatives think is s liberal bastion but in reality taxing endowments just causes tuition to go up bc it’s less money for fucking financial aid!!

[minionkevin]

Nov 19, 2018 23:16:38 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

Nov 19, 2018 10:04:05 GMT -5 carmenere said:

That's awesome. Too bad Republicans decided to tax university endowments (which provide financial aid, among other things) to pay for their tax cuts to the wealthy 

The most ridiculous part of the tax bill was the endowment tax. It’s a spiteful tax on what the conservatives think is s liberal bastion but in reality taxing endowments just causes tuition to go up bc it’s less money for fucking financial aid!!

Well he loves the uneducated, so...