Johns Hopkins saw 19.1 percent growth in its endowment last year. Undergraduate tuition and room and board at the private university come to nearly $47,000 this school year.
O'Shea says Hopkins has spent more than 5 percent of its assets in five of the past six years. Sixty percent of undergraduates this year are receiving need-based financial aid, according to university figures.
"Student assistance is extremely important to us," O'Shea said. "We want very much to do what we can to ensure that any student who gets into Johns Hopkins has the assistance he or she needs. ... We're not persuaded that it makes sense to have a federal policy about how colleges and universities should have to spend their endowment with a specific target rate."
Munson said schools generally could spend 5 percent of their assets annually. But she is not yet calling for a federal requirement.
"I'd like to see a two-step process where, first, we shed a great deal of sunshine on this issue," she said. "Colleges and universities still can keep most information secret. They don't have to tell anyone how much they're paying out of their endowment. They don't have to tell anyone what they're spending any of that money on. So there needs to be a sea change in that area.
"I would hope that exposure would compel through public pressure a higher rate of spending. If it did not, I would recommend that Congress examine that option very seriously. And I think a number like 5 percent really should just be considered a starting point."
matthew.brown@baltsun.com
