Two Quick Cornell Facts of the Day

I had dinner last night with one of Cornell's vice presidents, and while we only briefly spoke about the fiscal challenges currently facing the university, I learned a couple of interesting things. These might seem obvious to you, but they were news to me.

--Cornell has over 7,000 bank accounts. These are for various departments, professors, locations, scholarships, etc. This makes it difficult to assess the university's financial situation, since information about all of these accounts must be compiled. The number of accounts also makes it difficult to use money previously allocated to one purpose for another, since funds must be transferred between financial institutions.

--One reason why tuition didn't increase as much as some people expected is financial aid. As tuition goes up, the university must contribute more to meet its financial aid commitments. So, while an increase in tuition would bring more revenue to Cornell, it would also require a bigger aid payout, which the university probably can't afford.