The Real Financial Crisis In College
- Forbes
Adam
Andrzejewski Contributor July 29, 2014
I cover the “daily greed” of local, state and national
politics.
Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are
their own.
Adam Andrzejewski is the founder of OpenTheBooks.com and
IL
watchdog organization, For The Good of Illinois
Wine Cellars, Shooting Clubs, a corrupted
$20 Million State Grant, a College President’s $500,000 Comp Package, $600
Million in Construction Projects, & much more…
Nearly every
day, the news headlines are screaming about the increasingly unattainable costs
of tuition and the insurmountable price tag of attaining a college degree.
Student debts are at crushing levels which impacts social mobility and drives a
deeper divide between the haves and have not’s.
Do you want
to know why college costs and debts are so oppressive? Colleges have become
fiefdoms unto themselves- even at the local community college level. An
excellent case-in-point is within my own locale at the College of DuPage (COD).
Here’s what
we’ve exposed at COD during the last 45 days:
Stopped a political strategy to procure a $20
million state grant
Requesting
COD President Robert Breuder’s emails during the two week period prior to the governor’s
visit to campus for commencement, we exposed a political strategy to
“shake loose” a $20 million state construction grant by bringing
support to incumbent Governor Pat Quinn. Citing our exposure, the major Chicago dailies
editorialized and the scandal ran on the front page. The governor
said the president’s strategy was “extremely alarming” and employed
“misrepresentation.” Quinn then suspended “all future capital dollars.”
COD is cash
rich with $180 million in the bank. They didn’t need the extra $20 million,
but they wanted it- so badly- they risked their integrity. Read Dr. Breuder’s
email strategy here.
Wine, Upscale French Restaurants, and the
Shooting Club
Searching COD’s checkbook, we found
that the school paid or reimbursed the president for annual
membership dues and fees of at least $27,931 at the Max McGraw private shooting
club in Dundee, IL (2009-2-2013). COD has purchased over $192,000 of wine and
wine accessories in just the past three years- and this doesn’t include the
cost of building their wine cellar. The wine cellar is a part of the school’s
upscale French restaurant- which lost $560,000 in its first year of operation
(2012). Losses for 2013 are still unclear.
While the
working class students are burdened by limited financial means, COD won a 2013
Wine Spectator award after spending hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Comp of COD President Ranked in TOP 100
College/University Presidents
The total compensation of Robert Breuder
is $469,345. Here’s a quick breakdown: base salary of $292,000 plus
56 paid personal, vacation, “rest and respite,” and holidays. Breuder receives paid cell phone, and mostly paid health
and life insurance, plus lucrative extra perks: $72,000 in deferred comp
($360,000/ since 2009); $24,900 into a retirement annuity ($124,500/ since
2009); $8,400 of car allowance ($42,000/ since 2009); $8,400 of “personal
development” allowance ($42,000/ since 2009). Breuder
personally pays nothing into the state university retirement pension. COD pays
his contribution amounting to approximately $24,000 annually.
Continue reading at …. http://www.forbes.com/sites/adamandrzejewski/2014/07/29/the-real-financial-crisis-in-college/