My alma mater, Swarthmore College, sent out a mailing (I can’t find it online) that begins,

Swarthmore charges $41,280 per student in tuition and fees, and its endowment reached nearly $1.2 billion…Isn’t that enough money for a small college…is it imperative to raise $230 billion in The Meaning of Swarthmore campaign?

The answer is yes, of course. The poor dears are barely able to make ends meet.

each year’s budget is very difficult to balance. Moreover, significant savings cannot be had without eroding the quality of the Swarthmore educational experience.

It’s sort of like England defending giving money to the Royals. Significant savings cannot be had without eroding the quality of the aristocratic experience.

Instead of raising $230 million to increase the amount of unused building space at Swarthmore by another X percent, suppose that they raised $230 million to give as vouchers to young people to attend community colleges. Is there any question that this would be a socially better use of the funds?