Screen Televisions

Why do schools raise tuition when they got plasma screen televisions in all the dorms?

Shouldn't they be using the money for more important things that they are whining about? At my school they have 2 plasma's in every dorm. The students pay for everything here:(

Public Comments

1. which dorms have plasma screen tvs???????
2. They have to pay for the plasma tv's.
3. Good question. Here at our college, they raised the tuition to pay for a new library. When they ran out of money, the only floors they had built were for faculty. Then they had to raise tuition again. Then they raised it again to build a fountain in the middle of the school for everyone to look at..Everyone hates it. It cost so many hundred thousand dollars. All it did was take up 15 or so parking spaces and cost everyone money. they raised tuition to pay for a parking garage which you have to pay to use so nobody uses it. I think colleges just raise tuition so they can have more money to waste. Students don't need plasma TV.s They are supposed to study
4. The tuition raise almost certainly didn't pay for the plasma TVs; based on my experience, it was probably raised to pay for faculty and staff expenses (health insurance, pensions, and so on). The other major reason you raise tuition is to pay for financial aid. Very few students are actually paying the "sticker price." Most are paying some kind of discounted tuition price. If you are paying less, it's partly because a few students are paying more. Usually "capital improvements" like plasma TVs or dorm buildings themselves are paid for by money that a) the government gives the school and/or b) money that alums or other outside groups give the school. In such a case, even though it sounds hard to believe, your school may not be *able* to use the money for something else even if it wants to. The problem is that people see a beautiful new dorm go up and don't understand that that had nothing to do with tuition increases--it's a different funding line. On the other hand, students actually want the plasma TVs. If not--if the other students agree with you--go and ask the dean or president what the deal is. Trust me, most administrators are far more willing to listen to student opinion than you know, even if they pretend they're not. The administration probably thought that new students (and parents of new students!) would think the TVs were cool when they came to visit. So if spending $20,000 on TVs brings in two full-pay students who pay $25,000 in tuition a year each, that makes sense. It makes sense if it brings in ONE full-pay student, which is a fairly good bet. But you deserve to know more about these numbers. Ask your administrators. You're paying their salaries.