The University of Chicago has the best business school in the world. So why are they broke?

Universities in the US are under severe financial stress, as enrollment is plunging. Students from wealthy Chinese families are choosing to study closer to home, and enrollment from US students is falling. Universities across the country are slashing professor positions and administrative staff jobs, and even closing campuses. This all comes at a time of collapsing public confidence in higher education among the general public.

None of this is a problem at the University of Chicago, however, where enrollment is rising, students are applying in record numbers, and they are pushing up tuition costs. But soaring expenses, administrative bloat, and a capital structure that is too dependent on floating-rate loans have left the university with huge deficits. The same institution that is ironically home to the "Chicago Thought" school of economics and is where Barack Obama once held a position as instructor of Constitutional Law, has painful choices to make.

Resources and links:

University of Chicago under severe financial pressures
maroon.com/40872/news/expect-growing-pains-university-presentation-reveals-severe-financial-pressures/
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/educa...

Chart, cost of education vs inflation rate
https://www.personalfinanceclub.com/i...

Survey: Americans' confidence in higher education fall sharply https://news.gallup.com/poll/508352/a...
https://www.chronicle.com/article/pub...

University of Chicago rankings
https://www.bloomberg.com/business-sc...
https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-...

National universities under severe strain
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/b...
University of Arizona https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/21/us...
Big 10 https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelt...
Wisconsin https://www.wpr.org/economy/most-univ...
UConn https://www.highereddive.com/news/uni...
UNH https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelt...
SUNY Potsdam https://www.northcountrypublicradio.o...
Penn State https://www.spotlightpa.org/statecoll...
CUNY https://www.thecity.nyc/2024/01/12/cu...

Can Indian students offset Chinese losses?
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articl...