`Non-Profit' Columbia University Teachers College's Assets Increased By $12 Million In 2005

For the 2004 fiscal year, the Teachers College of Columbia University filed a “return of organization exempt from income tax.” Yet, according to its Form 990 for 2004, for the year beginning September 1, 2004 and ending September 1, 2005, the Teachers College of Columbia University’s total revenues of $161.5 million exceeded its total expenses of $153.4 million by over $8 million. Although claiming to be a “non-profit” educational institution that received $18.1 million in government grants between September 2004 and September 2005, the Teachers College of Columbia University also earned $4.7 million in dividends and interest from its portfolio of stocks and bonds during this same period and gained an additional $11.8 million in revenues from the sale of some of its assets.

Despite selling some of its stock assets during the fiscal year, between September 2004 and September 2005 the market value of “non-profit” Teachers College of Columbia University’s investment portfolio increased from $174 million to $192.1 million. Over $58 million worth of common stocks and over $68 million worth of hedge fund investment fund holdings were contained in Columbia Teachers College’s portfolio as of September 1, 2005. The “non-profit” Teachers College of Columbia University also owned a “for-profit” education industry business in Japan called TC Kyoika Services/TC Educational Services. The net assets of the tax-exempt Teachers College of Columbia University increased by over $12 million between September 2004 and September 2005, from $191.6 million in 2004 to $203.8 million in 2005.

Besides sitting on the board of directors of the for-profit Washington Post Company/Newsweek media conglomerate (which owns Kaplan Inc./Kaplan Higher Education’s $1.7 billion education industry business), Columbia University President Lee Bollinger also sits on the board of trustees of the Teachers College of Columbia University; and the Teachers College of Columbia University apparently shifted $564,512 from its bank account to Columbia University’s bank account between 2004 and 2005.

The former president of Columbia University Teachers College, Arthur Levine, used to sit on the board of directors of Blackboard Inc., while the current Columbia University Teachers College President, Susan Fuhrman, is also a member of the audit and nomination committee of the for-profit Pearson educational publishing firm—which makes a lot of money from the sale of college textbooks and educational materials to the U.S. educational system.

Next: “Non-Profit” Columbia University Teachers College Paid Five Professors Over $210,000 Each In Annual Salaries In 2005