Neal McCluskey of Cato Institute has long been interested in the wild spending at many colleges and universities for delightful amenities that will lure in students. His most recent SeeThruEdu post is on that topic. He provides some jaw-dropping examples. Schools are spending huge money in an effort at “keeping up with the Joneses.” What if some students should decide to go to a school with a better water park?!
Back in 2009, we published a paper by Professor Robert Martin, The Revenue-to-Cost Spiral on the lamentable fact that most college presidents are caught up on an “arms race” obligating them to raise all the money they can, then spend it on things that are supposed to enhance the image of the school. Clearly, that spiral is still going strong.