I keep hearing about how college prices are going up, up, up, but then I also keep hearing about how colleges are building new and fancier dorms and gyms and whatnot.   Consider this article:

http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2022511257_residencehallsxml.html

UW has just knocked down an old building in which dorm rooms cost $5000 or so per academic year for a new one in which dorm rooms will cost $8500 per academic year and will feature amenities like private bathrooms.  That’s about $1000 / month!  That’s completely nuts.  I paid only $550 per month at Stanford, and for the record, no private bathroom.  Somehow, as a 24-year-old adult, I was able to deal with sharing a bathroom.  And yet, there are hundreds of people on the waiting list for the new dorm.  Are these fancy new dorms being paid for with student loans?  If so, that is just wrong, very wrong.  Or, is there a two tier system with the wealthiest students living in the fancy new dorms and the financial aid students living elsewhere?  That is wrong, too.