Over the past several decades, the nonprofit sector has grown dramatically in wealth, size, and prominence. So has controversy over whether the benefits provided by nonprofit organizations justify their special statutory, regulatory, and tax treatment. In this seminar we will look at the legal environment in which nonprofits operate to ask several questions: Who owns these organizations and their assets? Are they best characterized as public or private or both? How should they be governed? To whom are they accountable? Why have there been so many nonprofit scandals? In answering these questions we will look broadly at the sector and more specifically at industries in which nonprofits play a large role such as health, education, and religion.