[yunohn]

> are non-profit, and it doesn't really make sense to say that the universities is "profiting" off of overheads

IMO “non-profit” is a misnomer.

It only implies that the organisation’s owners (funders, equity holders, etc) do not take a profit.

It does /not/ mean that the people involved don’t make money - income, fees, admin overhead, building/contracts/employment favoritism, etc. There are infinite ways to leech money that don’t involve taking “profits”.

[mattmanser]

It's literally what the company setup means. You can allege that people in every non-profit are committing fraud, but it's not a misnomer.

[prasadjoglekar]

A better way to phrase the parent's frustration is to say that "non profit" is strictly a tax status.

Colloquially, we have expanded the meaning to mean a charity or other selfless endeavor.

No doubt many non profits do perform charitable acts, but plenty more are just glorified tax shelters.