[danielford]

One reason for new buildings on college campuses is that donors and the government are much more willing to give funds for that purpose than they are for salaries and benefits, which make up the bulk of most college budgets. So, I understand your frustration if you're angry about tuition rising while your college is erecting a new building every three years, but those are usually two separate piles of money, and there's not much your college can do to change that.

That said, I still flinch every time I hear about a new building on our campus. I'm increasingly uncomfortable with the perception that colleges are living large while tuition rates climb, and I feel we should be more conspicuously frugal to combat it.

[hkmurakami]

So I guess a more productive donor gift would be to endow a chair or professorship.

edit: Donors can actually set up scholarships in their name too (and you can even restrict the students who can apply if you so choose -- say, only engineering majors, etc.). Many of my friends in college were given generous need based scholarships from alumni who had set up scholarship funds for future students.

[patio11]

Yep. That's the oldest shuffle in the business, too, since the college will simply decrease their existing scholarship budget by $1 for every $1 of a restricted gift. They're literally as good as cash.

When I was signing my docs at Wash U they gave me an eight question sheet. "You don't have to answer anything that would make you feel uncomfortable, but some of our alumni have restrictions on which scholarships they fund. Check any which apply. Don't worry, your aid package is the same either way."

The two which I remember several years later are a) widow or orphan of a US military veteran and/or b) Methodist St. Louisian desiring to study engineering. They were sort of a fascinating time capsule into what really motivated the ~1945 graduating class.

[gms7777]

I went to WashU too, and I remember getting a letter sometime during college saying "Congratulations, you won a $5,000 named scholarship for female engineers!" And I was excited until I read on and it turned out that the 5k was just going to replace 5k of a merit scholarship I already had.

[patio11]

Yep. For bonus points: even if you won an outside scholarship, they'd reduce your merit award by 50% of the total. (e.g. If you win an essay writing competition and pick up a $5k scholarship from a private organization like your local Boy Scout troop, they'd reduce your loan by $2.5k and your merit grant by $2.5k.)

n.b. for all current and future college attendees: this policy is negotiable. My mother called the financial aid office, pitched a fit, and got a one-time exception to it about eight different times. I was embarrassed by this, but only because I was young and stupid, since ten years later I certainly care more about the ~$10k of debt that I don't have much more than my status as a quiet, go-with-the-flow cog as measured by a financial aid officer whose name I don't know and who has almost certainly forgotten those calls ever happened.

[blackguardx]

It sounds like Wash U. screws its students over. It wasn't like that at Case Western. I got merit scholarships and scholarships from the alumni association. One couldn't impact the other.

[gms7777]

Perhaps. However, I was from a middle to upper middle class family and had a ridiculous amount of financial aid and merit scholarships. For a 40k/year school, my family was paying about 5k total, and I graduated with no loan debt. So to an individual, it seems like this policy screws you over, but in general, they are extremely generous, and this policy allows them to move money to other people who need it to afford to come there. There are certainly arguments against it, but a blanket statement like "WashU screws its students over" is certainly unwarranted.

[sliverstorm]

the college will simply decrease their existing scholarship budget by $1 for every $1 of a restricted gift. They're literally as good as cash.

This is exactly the first thing that occurred to me when I started thinking about donating to my alma mater. Haven't really figured out a way around it.

[hkmurakami]

Oh that's pretty disappointing that the school will decrease their side of the scholarship budget. :(

[akadien]

This is quite true. For state schools, new buildings may be a "gift" from the political class to show the public their support for higher education. The stupid irony is those buildings typically don't come with operations and maintenance funds. At the same time, state appropriations are decreasing, putting the pinch on O&M and department support. The university (or publicly supported research institute) has a shiny new building in which they can put neither equipment nor people.

[snomad]

The political class frequently uses college buildings to help fund re-election campaigns. The construction is done by a union or company that then donates to the political actor.

[wisty]

The Hollowmen (an Australian political sitcom, somewhere between Yes, Minister and The Thick of it) had something like this. The Prime Minister wanted a building, so he could get his name on it. The problem is, Canberra (the capitol) was already full of buildings with Prime Minister's names on them, and there wasn't any space to put anything new.

It's a great photo-op. "This $x million building will teach a new generation of students".

There's also the scope for corruption, when they pick the builders, but that's another story.

[akadien]

> There's also the scope for corruption, when they pick the builders, but that's another story.

I live in Louisiana. Tell me about it!

[wisty]

Sorry, not being American I know next to nothing about Louisiana; other than it's got gators, and All the King's Men was shot there.

[akadien]

We also have New Orleans, Mardi Gras, and much political corruption and cronyism.

[jobu]

It's too bad the donor money comes with so many strings attached. I wonder if the universities could get away with renting out some of the space in some of these buildings. That could at least cover some of the operating costs.

[hkmurakami]

It's a little ironic that I don't give to my alma mater's annual giving program precisely because there would be no strings attached and I'd have no idea what the administration would be spending the money on.

I'm hoping that in the future I'll be able to give to the Engineering school in some meaningful way, or contribute to need based scholarships.

[ErikAugust]

Well, either way, one could skip school and the debt, and just get into construction.

[Evbn]

Actually, colleges build buildings because USNews gives points for new construction in its annual ratings, whereas educational quality is too hard to measure.