Representative Vern Buchanan (R-FL) is introducing a bill encouraging universities to enroll more American citizens and lawful permanent residents through endowment calculations.
The Protecting American Students Act would count only students who are American citizens, nationals, or lawful permanent residents toward endowment tax calculations. Provisions are also in place to include students who can prove they are in the country to become citizens or permanent residents via the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS).
As a result, students on student visas or otherwise temporarily in the United States would not count in endowment tax calculations.
The Endowment Tax is a 1.4% excise tax on private colleges and universities with at least 500 tuition-paying students and an endowment value of at least $500,000 per full-time student.
Rep. Buchanan's bill thereby expands the number of schools that qualify for endowment tax calculations, including Columbia and Cornell Universities, which saw the largest pro-Hamas demonstrations after the October 7th attacks in Israel.
Antisemitic incidents spiked on both campuses, with Jewish students staying off-campus for fear of their safety. Many Republicans, including former Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), called for the student visas of protesters to be revoked in response.
"These antisemitic riots on campuses are disgusting. It's important to understand, though, these people don't just hate Israel – they hate America, too. If any of those people came here on a student visa, the Biden Administration needs to revoke the visa. All the others should take Iran up on its offer of free tuition at Shiraz University," Rubio told The Floridian in May.
In his press release for the Protecting American Students Act, Buchanan said, "Our institutions of higher education should not be rewarded with generous tax benefits while they prioritize enrolling foreign students at the expense of hard-working American students. Many of these so-called 'elite' schools also continue to condone pro-Hamas protests following the October 7th attacks that quickly devolve into instances of violence and hate speech. My bill makes it clear: enroll more American students or pay the price."
