Education: Stratagems for Staying Solvent

Few schools can match the fiscal foresight of the law school of New York University, which bought a New Jersey noodle factory in 1947 for $3.5 million. After receiving millions in profits over the years from the sale of spaghetti and macaroni, the school sold the company for $115 million in 1976. That may be the only use of pasta to finance higher education, but other novel strategies for coping with the fiscal crunch have yeasted up all over. Among them:

Pawn the Library. Desperate to meet a payroll, the University of Miami once hocked $1 million worth of library books to Miami's Pan American Bank in order to secure a $400,000 short-term loan. Fortunately, that was some years ago, and today the library is safely out of hock.

Lease the Campus. At Atlanta's Oglethorpe University, the tenants include General Motors, which holds salesmanship courses on the campus, as well as band groups and baseball camps. Oglethorpe Alumni Director William Wolpin notes proudly: "We follow up every inquiry on using the facility."

Accept Insults—for a Price. To raise funds for a new science building, students at Maine's Unity College sold raffle tickets entitling them to throw pies at faculty members. Past President Allan Karstetter squashed a pie on his own face to collect a $200 stake put up for the occasion by one of his trustees.

Guarantee the Product. To prove that, say, biology graduates can distinguish fish from fowl, Mars Hill College, just outside Asheville, N.C., backs its diplomas with special tests that lead to "competency" certificates. Results: more than $3 million in federal and foundation grants, and grateful businessmen who hire the certifiably competent graduates.

Loan the Stock. Harvard nets $1 million annually by risk-free loans of its stock to brokerage houses; the firms use the short-term loans for bookkeeping purposes. Of course, it helps when pursuing this strategy to have Harvard's stock portfolio, which is worth $700 million.

Buy a TV Station. A venture capital fund managed by the trustees at Iowa's Grinnell College purchased Dayton's WLWD-TV-2 for $12.9 million in 1976; today the station's estimated market value is $35 million.

Sell the Students. Leonard Meyers, development chief of Florida's Eckerd College, displays a loose-leaf "baby book"—a collection of photos and biographical sketches of students who need aid—when visiting local fat cats. Says Meyers: "We ask donors to adopt a student."

Wave to the Passing Motorists. Not content with the usual ways of putting the arm on potential givers, officials at the University of Southern California decided to put up freeway billboards reminding motorists of U.S.C.'s current fund drive. Explains U.S.C.'s Leonard Wines: "Everything adds up to make an impression."

Hang On to the Trees. Instead of hauling off the timber when clearing a site for a $4.7 million sports complex, Bates College in Lewiston, Me., decided to keep the trees. The 100,000 board feet of lumber will supply building needs for more than five years.