By: Matthew LeBar
Colleges have become more than just a place of education. They are as much homes for their students as they are classrooms. As such, many colleges are competing to provide the most lavish amenities to attract students. Some services are generic and uncontroversial, but many are exorbitant and beyond reason. Although these extra amenities may not feel burdensome, they are not free. Student services are financed through student tuition and fees, driving up both.
Many of the services are sensible; housing and food are essential and can be difficult for an eighteen year old to find independently. However, some services are unnecessary. Scott Carlson at the Chronicle of Higher Education lists just a few of Colgate University’s student services: drug and alcohol committees, a multicultural-affairs office, volunteer programs, and fall orientation. At Inside Higher Ed, Nate Kreuter describes a lounging pool at the University of Texas at Austin, while Andrew Hacker and Claudia Dreifus of USA today list absurd services at other schools, including a jumbo Jacuzzi. These flashy amenities are nice, but expensive and unnecessary. Schools should be in the educating business, and should not feel they need to provide for even the most basic necessities. Where there is a void (no housing, no dining halls, etc.) the vacuum will be filled by a cheaper and more efficient private provider. This gives the decision to consume back to the students and they would not be forced to subsidize these amenities they don’t use for other students — subsidies that increase tuition and fees and raise the levels of postgraduate debt.
These costs are not insignificant, either. According to a graphic by Azwan Azhar at Iowa State Daily, at the University of Iowa student services cost $188.20 per year, or $509.80 if you include “recreation” as a part of student services. Over 4 years, the costs from recreation and student services are $2,039.20. Imagine taking out $2,000 dollars in student loans and realizing that the money had been spent on unnecessary services — many of which you left unused.
Instead of forcing their students to pay for all sorts of extravagant amenities, colleges should give their students the option way to pay for what they want. If a student wants to pay for a gym membership or a climbing wall, there’s no reason that they shouldn’t be able to. Only the students who want and use a service should be charged for it. Although taking away Jumbo Jacuzzis also removes the university’s ability to teach student how to relax in style, there are always costs, and it seems doubtful it’s worth the $2,000 students are paying for it.
Instead of spending all this money on exorbitant services, universities should compete through their main purpose: education. Universities are, after all, institutes of education. Rather than spending exorbitantly on student services, they should focus on academics. If students are concerned with college costs, they should go to schools that focus less on showy amenities and more on academic excellence.
Matthew LeBar is a researcher at The Center for College Affordability and Productivity.
