“Maybe it’s the previously discussed “customer orientation” that is now part of so many schools’ modus operandi. If the customers are demanding something, we’ve got to keep them happy, right?”
All institutions that stay alive follow the money. That includes churches, schools, everybody. Students are paying a lot more than they used to, but schools are raising a lot more from alumni, too. I don’t have any figures for how that funding ratio has changed over time, but you can bet that the schools know and they’re taking it into account.