Colleges Spend Like There’s No Tomorrow. ‘These Places Are Just Devouring Money.

[dismalist]

There are enough successful non-profits out there. The model works. The ones that don't work, don't work because of (and I'll say it again for the 3rd time)

    Quote
    erosion of governance and BODs who are asleep at the wheel and/or still want to run a non-profit like a business or worse are aligned with the mismanagement of the non-profit

Sure, but the failures are due to the incentives made by the non-profits. There is no reason for a Board to not be asleep at the wheel! No skin off their backs. Just because not all boards are currently like that just shows that we can't prevent all good things from happening.

[Wahoo Redux]

Looks like there's plenty of money. Just not going to the right places. Why? 'Cause they're non-profits!

I understand that conservatives in this day and age want to be critical of any government agency, particularly when money is involved----it is just part of conservative ethos----but you cannot be suggesting that for-profit entities are always sending their money "to the right places" are you!?

[Kron3007]

The universities I have worked for have been fairly fiscally responsible.  Currently, we have a mild budgetary issue, largely because there is a tuition freeze here with no increase in government support to offset it.  Essentially, we have to run a 2015 budget with 2023 costs.  Our university has imposed budget cuts across all units to reach balance, and imposed a general hiring freeze (with some exceptions).  You can criticize their methods, but it hardly seems like drunken sailors at the wheel.

Despite the hiring freeze and reduced operating budget, we also have donors interested in sponsoring new chairs, there is dedicated funding for some building replacements, etc., but these are all from earmarked funds that the university has received.  So, to the outside viewer, it could look like a silly time to hire new faculty and replace buildings, but those funds are outside of our standard budget.

These items are not really in the universities control or related to being a not for profit, they are how the system is setup.  It would be financially irresponsible to turn down sponsored chairs and buildings replacements as they are bringing new money to the university.  There are likely times when turning them down would make sense, but that doesn't seem like the norm. 

[RatGuy]

I belong to a site for parents of prospective college students, and the discussion is never about class size or course design or those less visible elements. It's all about the sports facilities and the state of the dorms and how many places the campus has to eat. <snip>

On one hand, I'm not surprised. As admins say here all the time, enrollment is way up among SEC football schools. So there's an effort to be like UGA or Alabama or Florida State(?). I would also think that social media plays a big part of that. I only use Instagram for my gaming hobby, but it seems that #BamaRush is inescapable. Are prospective students making decisions based on the social scene on social media?

OTOH, I would think that criteria that would matter for parents would be 1) are the parents alumni 2) tuition price 3) general location.

[ciao_yall]

There are enough successful non-profits out there. The model works. The ones that don't work, don't work because of (and I'll say it again for the 3rd time)

    Quote
    erosion of governance and BODs who are asleep at the wheel and/or still want to run a non-profit like a business or worse are aligned with the mismanagement of the non-profit

Sure, but the failures are due to the incentives made by the non-profits. There is no reason for a Board to not be asleep at the wheel! No skin off their backs. Just because not all boards are currently like that just shows that we can't prevent all good things from happening.

Boards of non-profits are often donors, or are appointed to the board because they can get donations. So it's their, and their friend's money that gives them an incentive to run their non-profit well.