^^ They are relatively inexpensive compared to other equipment, but if you saw the one at SMU (a centerpiece of their athletic facility), you would probably consider it an extravagance. Some universities have very elaborate set ups.
I think some of the biggest showplaces are public universities. Rec centers, libraries, performing arts centers, stadiums. Yes, the athletic money pays for the facilities for the teams, but there are other really nice places that aren’t just functional but gorgeous too.
^ agree, and public universities also have more of the just-off-campus luxurious housing too.
How public universities compare to private probably depends greatly on the state.
I think that Harvard could have only 5th floor walk ups(all buildings on stilts?) and feed everyone bread and water and they’d still have 20 applicants for every spot - as long as Yale and Penn also featured a bread and water diet. Alabama needs to worry about what Clemson is offering and ASU has its eyes on Colorado and Texas
Our son, who is at a service academy, texts me pics of his dinner plate piled high with empty crab shells (not empty when he got his plate) at least once a year. Crab x 4400 cadets = good use of taxpayer money? SMH.
In some parts of the country (like Maine where one LAC is known for serving it), lobster is cheap.
(Snow) crab legs are a regular feature at downmarket Chinese buffet all you can eat restaurants here in Ohio, which tells me they must be fairly cheap (or that it’s a loss leader that’s very effective at bringing crowds in, because they all do it).
Well, I do not know what you would consider luxury resort features. But I will say that Brandeis’s crowded facilities/ lack of guaranteed housing for jr/sr years/ possibility of a forced triple fr year, and worn grass, made a negative impression despite its many other wonderful qualities. Conversely, my husband and I could not get over the expansive lawns/views and gorgeous facilities of Middlebury; everything looked perfect!
Son would have applied to both schools, however, if his ED choice had not worked out. We liked both. And if your money is limited and you have to choose between lawn care/new facilities versus top professors with small classes— well, Brandeis made the right choices. Son would have picked it above many a school with prettier facilities but less academic quality. But Middlebury has both great academics and great facilities. I believe that would have tipped the choice in its favor if it had come down to the two colleges.
The money put into each school’s grounds and facilities definitely affected our impressions and would affect the quality-of-life for a student.
Most of the “luxurious” off campus housing I have seen being built at public universities is being built by the universities. And in some instances, “luxurious” apartments are being built on campus all in efforts to keep students paying the universities room and board longer…I mean increasing their “college experience.” 
And all of them have had plenty of what I would call off-campus college apartment dives.
@ucbalumnus My son chose probably the most rundown university he toured…and by far the cheapest. It was the academics and the location that won him over.
For my D, the dorms she wound up in freshman year were Cold-War Era and not luxury by any stretch (plus being a forced triple). Much better this year (on-campus apartment, less than 10 years old) due to sheer good fortune (and the housing gods). Still, an urban setting that can be gritty. My kid needs to be safe, relatively happy, fed and well educated. She does not need to live better than I am.
It is still depending on the school even within the same state. Our in-state flagship just have most of the dorms renovated and upgraded the cafeteria facilities. Some of them look more like the food court in a shopping mall with multiple booths for Sushi, Mongolian BBQ, soup noodle,design your own pizza, etc.
Not uncommon, and often done as a marketing tie-in with a restaurant; the school/cafeteria receives the goods at a steep discount and the students have an idea where to bring the parents when they come for Parents Weekend. Win/win. In the notebooks of college extravagances, this is pretty low on the list, IMO.
My first born attended undergrad from 2003-2007 in a major metro area. They had these wonderful steak or lobster, or special dinners in their dining hall pretty often…at least once a month.
Did I want luxury resort features? Well…it depends on what you call luxury resort features! I wanted nice facilities, and well maintained and varied things for my kids to do on campus. Both had state of the art fitness centers. Both had fabulous arts facilities. Both had awesome dining halls with varied and good food. Both had lots of recreational activities. Both had gorgeous and well maintained grounds. Both had fabulous housing for upperclassmen…we are talking great on campus apartments. Neither of my kids lived in them…but they were there,
For what we were paying…you bet I expected excellent features.
There are luxury apartment here on campus although most are not own by the school. For the rent of a double room, one can rent a whole house with 2000+sqft.
Not at the major publics. Many private developers are in that niche.
My kids went to college in VERY pricey real estate markets. They both lived off campus in apartments their last two years. The on campus apartments were actually more expensive…but they were a LOT LOT nicer!
Neither of my kids would have been able to rent a full house on the cost of the one room they were renting. Neither would have been able to rent a full house on the cost of the on campus housing.
I think this totally depends on the location of the school. But I can tell you…in Boston or Santa Clara…not possible.
Well googling “fanciest student housing” is fun:
http://www.elledecor.com/life-culture/fun-at-home/g9173981/best-student-housing/ and http://www.bestcollegevalues.org/best-college-dorms/
As an aside, my kid is abroad this semester and her dorm has a rooftop deck with pool, among other things.
For kids who have grown up with Whole Foods more than Kroger and Starbucks more than McDonald’s, is it really surprising that their college would have sushi bars and lobster nights?
My kids go to SUNY schools, so obviously I am not one who is invested in luxuries at school. My one luxury during college was my own phone line, but I lived at home.
My son’s school is known for its music and performing arts programs and they recently completed a multi-million dollar renovation addition to the performing arts center. It’s really nice and maybe it might be considered a luxury at another school but here it’s really like a training center/lab for the kids to practice their skills and craft in. The gym facilities are nice and new but nothing over the top.