2024: 5 examples of government waste in higher education
In 2024, the nation's institutions of higher learning continued to use public funds in ways taxpayers might find objectionable. Here are five examples.
In 2024, the nation’s institutions of higher learning continued to use public funds in ways taxpayers might find objectionable. Here are five examples.
1. CUNY gets $19 million from taxpayer-funded NIH for health ‘equity center’
The City University of New York announced on Oct. 29 that its School of Medicine received $19.3 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to create The New York Center for Minority Health, Equity and Social Justice.
In addition to the funding that CUNY received, the NIH also has a Faculty Institutional Recruitment for Sustainable Transformation (FIRST) grant that awards “more than $64 million over five years” to “build self-reinforcing communities of scientists committed to diversity and inclusive excellence.”
2. GOP Sen. Cassidy calls for investigation into taxpayer dollars funding DEI
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) is calling for scrutiny of federal spending on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in higher education.
Cassidy noted the dramatic expansion of DEI on campuses in the last several years, writing that the amount of DEI officials has “ballooned” since 2020. He cited a 2021 study by the Heritage Foundation showing that the average higher education institution paid 45 employees to push DEI.
The two researchers are Arthur Scarritt, professor and Chair of Sociology at the school, and Michael Kreiter, an instructor at Boise State and researcher of “social inequalities,” as noted on the university website.
Scarritt’s research partner, Michael Kreiter, lists his research interests as being “focused on social inequalities, including areas of race, gender, class, and sexuality,” and states that his “current research is investigating cultural reproduction of inequality through discourse in science-fiction fandom,” according to his bio on Boise State’s website.
The U.S. Department of Education is awarding more than $40 million in federal grants to improve college completion rates for “underserved students.”
According to a Department of Education press release, the grants are set to be provided to universities and colleges under the Postsecondary Student Success Grant program. A total of $41,264,496 was given out.
5. NASA hands out more than $7 million to boost ‘diversity’
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced that it is awarding $7.2 million to several universities to promote “diversity” in certain fields.
The six schools receiving the funds are Alabama A&M, Morgan State–Baltimore, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State, Central Florida, Colorado-Denver, and Houston Universities.
