Colleges’ Fancy Pools Adding to Tuition

Woman in Pool Shaun Best AP
Shaun Best/AP

Moms and dads paying their children’s college tuition take note: some of those colleges’ tuitions may be hiked because of expensive recreational pools the colleges offer their students.

Collegerank.com listed the 30 best college leisure pools in the country, including the University of Missouri’s $39 million recreational center equipped with an indoor beach, a lazy river, a waterfall, and a grotto similar to the one at the playboy mansion. Texas Tech University’s $8.4 million leisure pool boasts a 635-foot lazy river and waterslide. Pensacola Christian College offers a surfing “FlowRider”; Auburn University built a 240,000 square ft. recreational with a 45-person hot tub; Nova Southeastern University has a “resort-style” pool; and Kent State University has a waterfall, cool water vortex, wading pool, and zero depth entry.

Meanwhile, outstanding student-loan debt has quadrupled since 2003, having surpassed $1.1 trillion. Bankrate Money Pulse reports that 45% of Americans with student loans and 56% Americans between 18 and 29 have delayed a major life event because of their student debt.

The class of 2015 will owe more that any class in U.S. history, according to Mark Kantrowitz, senior vice president and publisher of Edvisors, which tracks the student loan market.

As tuition rises across the country, federal programs that are supposed to let student borrowers reduce their repayments are affecting the bond market. Investors who own the bonds are upset, and refusing to buy new bonds, according to The Wall Street Journal.

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