I was flabbergasted at how large that overhead number really is (emphasis mine). “HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: More Employees Than Students at Stanford: Give Each Student a Concierge!
“Specifically, there were 15,750 administrators, 2,288 faculty members, and 16,937 students. The paid help of 18,038 (administrators plus faculty) outnumbered the customers (students) by 1,101. That gave me an idea for a stunning administrative reorganization: give each student a paid concierge—an academic butler, if you will—to help navigate the pain of collegiate living in Palo Alto.”
Faculty members would be DIRECT labor – they actually DO what higher education is supposed to do: knowledge transfer. That’s it – that’s its main purpose. Sure, there is research, and some of that is profitable, but that can and does translate to the next generation of knowledge transfers (or academic “spinoffs” in terms of startup incubators).
15,750 / 2288 = 7.9. Impressive overhead. Thanks, Mom & Dad.
