While they claim that the students being here means $7 billion for the economy, I think more money goes out to host them in town for an academic year.
Additionally, the property tax base is going down because of college sprawl. Colleges are building non-profit buildings on once residential and business land all over the city.
That activity makes absolutely no sense.
Also, making no sense is other non-profits using once residential homes for their offices --> no taxes!
Furthermore, there has been a large mosque built - no taxes - on land the City of Boston sold to the mosque for $176,000 --> prime land in the City.
The university/college claim of being "non-profit" is one the largest tax-dodge scams in the America. I wonder if those Harvard professors would work for free at Harvard.