Colleges adding high-class amenities

(FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston.com) - Two beds, two dressers and a desk was the typical college dorm experience; however, on some college campuses, higher learning has become high-class.

Suites, outdoor pools, and amazing food courts are only part of what some schools are offering. 

At Davidson College in North Carolina, students need not worry about laundry because the college takes care of wash, dry and fold. 

At Berea College in Kentucky, the price of admission includes a laptop, and the college will fix it if it breaks. 

At Stanford University in California, students get to tee it up at a legendary golf course for just $25 a round.

Some colleges are piling on perks to make the experience as attractive as possible. 

"I think they are trying to look top of the line," Dr. Laurie Nash, an independent education consultant, told FOX 25's Ted Daniel.

Over the past three decades, she has helped hundreds of high school students select and apply to colleges all over the country.  Dr. Nash says the wealthiest institutions are able to continually raise the bar, and the extras are often appreciated more by the parents who write the tuition checks. 

"I don't think they will say, I really don't, I am not applying to college because I just love the facilities, but it's the general ambiance of the school that will probably make a big difference," Dr. Nash said.

Boston University has spent $2 billion on new facilities over the last decade, most going to new academic buildings, the rest, to improve student life.  The $200 million FitRec center is 6.6 acres of wow.  It boasts an indoor track, a rock climbing wall, and even a lazy river. 

Boston University also has the Student Village high rises.  It is apartment-style living with flat screens and artwork in the lobby.  A Boston University spokesperson says the new facilities were made possible due to good financial management, and the university provides $180 million in student aid a year. 

Yes, students like perks, but for them, it's only part of the sell.

With a private college education projected to cost nearly half a million dollars for kids born this year, FOX 25 wanted to know how big of a factor campus amenities are in driving up tuition prices. 

According to a study conducted by the Washington, D.C. based Delta Cost Project, spending on student services has increased at a faster rate than spending on instruction.  But when you look at the overall tuition picture, study director Dr. Rita Kirshtein said it's actually not much. 

"I think it's a smaller number of private schools, perhaps, that are trying to out do each other if you want to call it an amenities arms race, but for the most part, I don't think that's the major driver of college costs these days," Dr. Kirshtein said.

For the wealthiest schools, like Harvard University with it's more than $30 billion endowment, providing a plush campus is part of staying on top.  As long as colleges are competing for the top candidates, they will continue to add extras, as they try to keep up.

Cox Media Group