Dive Brief:
- An economics professor says colleges and universities are engaged in a dangerous "construction war" as part of a battle to attract students.
- Richard K. Vedder, director of the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, says many institutions are being pushed to unsafe levels of borrowing, with at least 20 schools seeing their bond ratings downgraded this year.
- He says uncertainty in higher education makes taking on debt for new buildings increasingly risky.
Dive Insight:
Vedder sums up the dangers succinctly: "If we were absolutely assured that colleges and universities were going to continue the path they’ve followed over the past half-century, namely that enrollments just keep growing and colleges keep getting bigger, then maybe a fair amount of new construction makes sense. I think there’s more risk that that will not be the case."
