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> Colleges are now awash in money It is not possible for me to overstate how very much this is not true at the college where I work, and at all colleges with w

> Colleges are now awash in money It is not possible for me to overstate how very much this is not true at the college where I work, and at all colleges with which I have a personal connection.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
rtkwe 6y ago
It depends a lot on who you know and what department you're in. In 40 of 50 states the highest paid public employee is a sports coach... https://fanbuzz.com/national/highest-paid-state-employees/ https://fanbuzz.com/national/highest-paid-state-employees/
- etempleton 6y ago
  At many universities athletics is a major revenue driver. There is a very real financial incentive to have high performing athletic programs.
  - brazzy 6y ago
    Is this revenue driven by athletics separate from tuition fees? Because if it isn't, that only confirms the hypothesis.
    - bpt3 6y ago
      Yes, it comes from broadcast revenues, merchandise, ticket and concession sales, and donations brought in through the athletic department.
  - watwut 6y ago
    Is that true? When I researched this last time it turned out most athletic programs loose money.
    - thatcat 6y ago
      It's true for football or basketball programs in the NCAA.
  - 121789 6y ago
    I think for most universities it's not a significant profit driver, but I bet it's great marketing for prospective students.
SQueeeeeL 6y ago
Most departments don't see it, but you also need to compare colleges to colleges of the 1900s, where most professors made VERY small salaries and campuses were spartan at best. Funds have increased tremendously
philwelch 6y ago
It’s probably similar to health care in that the amount of money entering the system may be increasing, but the growing costs of bureaucracy are consuming all of it and more.
bawana 6y ago
Of course not. They ARE AWASH in income. They just figure out how to spend it fast. Fancy buildings, fancy retirement plans, outrageous administrative salaries.... For example the Chairman of UMASS Medical Center makes 2.3 million. The CEO of Harvard makes 9.25 million. How are these jobs an order of magnitude harder than the governor of Massachusetts. (salary 150K) Or harder than the US President (salary 400K). I cannot help but laugh when someone says that 'captains of industry take huge risks and therefore deserve handsome reimbursement". How is it risky when all you have to do is decide how much to raise tuition? Riskier than our soldiers who face AK47 rounds in the sandbox? (What does a marine make, again?) How can we afford to pay our teachers so little? People who literally hold the future of America in their hands? And now with distance learning, tuitions have not decreased by an order of magnitude though the overhead should have.
- jimhefferon 6y ago
  I cannot stop you from believing things that are false, but I can only assert that they are false.
  - Clubber 6y ago
    I worked as tech support at a major university in the US in the mid-90s in the College of Business Administration as an internship. The way it works is you get a budget. If you don't spend all of your budget, you get less budget next year. No department wants a lesser budget. This resulted in all professors, most who only use Word and Excel, to get $4000 brand new, top of the line Dells every year. I know, I had to set them up and deliver them. This probably isn't how it works everywhere, but it's certainly the case in some places. This was a large public/state school.
    - imtringued 6y ago
      It's not that extreme around here but if there is some money left over... You can be sure that it will be spent. It's not like management gets a bonus for not spending money.
    - 6y ago

> Colleges are now awash in money It is not possible for me to overstate how very much this is not true at the college where I work, and at all colleges with which I have a personal connection.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

rtkwe 6y ago

It depends a lot on who you know and what department you're in. In 40 of 50 states the highest paid public employee is a sports coach... https://fanbuzz.com/national/highest-paid-state-employees/ https://fanbuzz.com/national/highest-paid-state-employees/

etempleton 6y ago
At many universities athletics is a major revenue driver. There is a very real financial incentive to have high performing athletic programs.
- brazzy 6y ago
  Is this revenue driven by athletics separate from tuition fees? Because if it isn't, that only confirms the hypothesis.
  - bpt3 6y ago
    Yes, it comes from broadcast revenues, merchandise, ticket and concession sales, and donations brought in through the athletic department.
- watwut 6y ago
  Is that true? When I researched this last time it turned out most athletic programs loose money.
  - thatcat 6y ago
    It's true for football or basketball programs in the NCAA.
- 121789 6y ago
  I think for most universities it's not a significant profit driver, but I bet it's great marketing for prospective students.

SQueeeeeL 6y ago

Most departments don't see it, but you also need to compare colleges to colleges of the 1900s, where most professors made VERY small salaries and campuses were spartan at best. Funds have increased tremendously

philwelch 6y ago

It’s probably similar to health care in that the amount of money entering the system may be increasing, but the growing costs of bureaucracy are consuming all of it and more.

bawana 6y ago

Of course not. They ARE AWASH in income. They just figure out how to spend it fast. Fancy buildings, fancy retirement plans, outrageous administrative salaries.... For example the Chairman of UMASS Medical Center makes 2.3 million. The CEO of Harvard makes 9.25 million. How are these jobs an order of magnitude harder than the governor of Massachusetts. (salary 150K) Or harder than the US President (salary 400K). I cannot help but laugh when someone says that 'captains of industry take huge risks and therefore deserve handsome reimbursement". How is it risky when all you have to do is decide how much to raise tuition? Riskier than our soldiers who face AK47 rounds in the sandbox? (What does a marine make, again?) How can we afford to pay our teachers so little? People who literally hold the future of America in their hands? And now with distance learning, tuitions have not decreased by an order of magnitude though the overhead should have.

jimhefferon 6y ago
I cannot stop you from believing things that are false, but I can only assert that they are false.
- Clubber 6y ago
  I worked as tech support at a major university in the US in the mid-90s in the College of Business Administration as an internship. The way it works is you get a budget. If you don't spend all of your budget, you get less budget next year. No department wants a lesser budget. This resulted in all professors, most who only use Word and Excel, to get $4000 brand new, top of the line Dells every year. I know, I had to set them up and deliver them. This probably isn't how it works everywhere, but it's certainly the case in some places. This was a large public/state school.
  - imtringued 6y ago
    It's not that extreme around here but if there is some money left over... You can be sure that it will be spent. It's not like management gets a bonus for not spending money.
  - 6y ago