<p>While the “arms-race” is obvious to talk about, not sure that it (capital projects) contributes that much to the increased cost of running a college, which is labor-intensive. </p>
<p>“Free laundry” for example maybe less expensive than paid. Manually collecting quarters (or dollar bills) requires a lot of personnel expense, not to mention bank fees (banks can charge large businesses a LOT to deposit cash). Sure, electronic cards have replaced coin ops, but those cards require maintenance…</p>