[gregw2]

The college that first triggered this observation/concern was one such 50k public state university, but the observation was alumni-based, not student-based and I recognize mileage may vary across schools and appreciate your comment.

My concern is not of a conspiracy, but of misplaced incentives that have gone awry. (And which are slated to get even worse if we start periodically forgiving loans which I have mixed feelings about.) My perception is that college/university prices have drastically outpaced inflation since inflation shrunk in the early 1980s and the quality of education provided has not concomitantly increased.

At least some analyses from the National Board of Economics Research show that from 1987-2010, "expansions in borrowing limits drive 40% of the tuition jump and represent the single most important factor [of tuition increases from 1987 to 2010]" (https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w21967/w219..., page 4.) and "We also find that increased grant aid contributes 17% to the rise in tuition"

Tuition increase is not directly related to the subject of campus design and spending on campus buildings, but is part of the origin of my skepticism and critical eye towards college/universities as a societal model, the thesis of the original article.