CU chief calls report on campus payrolls ‘simplistic’

By Bruce Benson

It’s unfortunate that BizWest’s “Campus payrolls defy recession” report took such a simplistic view of the economics of higher education in our state. Its message essentially was high administrative salaries drive tuition increases and there are no checks and balances on runaway costs. The piece cried out for context.

First, higher education is no different from any economic sector in that we compete for top talent in the marketplace. The University of Colorado is a complex, $3.3 billion annual enterprise. Running it requires a specialized skill set. At CU, we are fortunate to have…