Questions About the Campus ‘Arms Race’

The Economist weighs in on the campus building boom—what some have called an “arms race”—in a recent issue. The article asks whether colleges are building more than they need, and whether (or, rather, how) they will pay for their overreaching in years to come.

And the article questions the boom in science facilities in particular: “The emphasis on new science space also neglects politics or humanities students. Even many undergraduates studying science will have limited access to the benefits of the new campus labs, which are there mostly for the benefit of faculty members and their graduate students. Hiring more teaching staff and cutting class sizes would probably be of more help to undergraduates than much of the new construction.”