As the cost of higher education continues to increase at rates disproportionately higher than inflation or wage increases, the Senate Finance Committee has rightly taken note. Though it is clear some sort of regulation is needed to limit tuition-increase rates for schools that rake in enough money to post record endowments, the situation is complicated enough to warrant a thorough investigation of how schools obtain the tax-free funds they spend and to what extent they are responsible for improving the social benefit and public accessibility of private education.

Private foundations are required by law to spend at least 5 percent of their endowments on their own missions, according to an Oct. 14 Associated Press article. Institutions that are considered public charities, including colleges, have no such requirement. For starters, several senators want to see the wealthiest schools set an example by putting at least 5 percent of endowments toward maintaining or lowering tuition rates. Boston University, and other schools, should be required to invest this money in their students, as a sort of payment for the public benefit in lieu of tax payments.

Harvard University, whose endowment at $34.9 billion is the largest of any college in the world, is adverse to government involvement for its endowment, which predates the U.S. government, according to an Oct. 2 Harvard Crimson article. Officials from Yale University, which posted the largest increases in higher education last year, with a 28 percent return that bumped the endowment to the second largest in the country at $22.5 billion, told The Wall Street Journal that financial aid at the college has doubled since 2000, even though tuition has also increased.

Boston University’s tuition, which stands at $34,998 for the 2007-08 school year, is not only astronomical but expected to increase next year — and in years after. This trend must be curbed. While BU’s endowment, at $1.1 billion, is unlikely to draw the same attention as the 70 colleges that posted higher endowments than BU, according to the National Association of College and University Business Officers report released in January, its spending should be critically analyzed by the administration for flaws and excesses that cause the cost of attendance to climb each year.

While BU may need to face the competing needs of funding for grants and scholarships, money to keep tuition payments down and demands on its small, but ever-growing, endowment, it is imperative for the university to find a way to save students money. By raising tuition to levels that make education unaffordable for all but the wealthiest members of society, it violates its commitment to public service and alienates alumni. For its own benefit and that of students, BU should pursue serious avenues toward keeping tuition increases minimal, if not non-existent.