Research Universities Can Handle a Haircut

I read Harvard Prof. Maya Sen’s Feb. 25 op-ed “

A Compromise on University Funding” with great interest. Ms. Sen writes that reducing the rate the U.S. government—i.e., its taxpayers—reimburses educational institutions for indirect costs to 15% of a given research grant is sending “shock waves through academia.” Admittedly, this is a significant reduction from the 69% rate Harvard has received in the past.

I’m an accountant. Naturally I figured Ms. Sen would provide a summary of the costs that the reimbursement was intended to cover to support her claim that the 15% rate is insufficient. I read the article three times and couldn’t find any such details. The best rationale she provided was that universities would commit to addressing administrative bloat and shore up research integrity.