Munger is more interested in figuring a way to not heap mountains of debt on students.
The cost of building everyone’s dream college experience is one of the reasons people are paying 50-70k/ year for college.
If this design shaves off 10k/year in costs that’s a down payment on a condo.
Maybe that tradeoff seems unreasonable to people. But the ability to see and make those kinds of trade offs is… just maybe… one of the reasons Charlie is a billionaire.
As someone else said, universities now require one or two years of living in dorms. These dorms vary wildly in quality, but from what I've seen prices are usually about the same, and I have no reason to think that it would be any different here.
For context, here's a summary of the last three years of uni for me:
1: Lived in a dorm without AC, crammed in with three other people, sharing a bathroom with the male half of the floor. This was the most I paid in rent.
2: Lived with those same three people in a townhouse with AC, my own room, a kitchen, sharing two bathrooms between four people. About half the price of the dorms.
3: Lived by myself in an apartment with AC, a kitchen, and my own bathroom. Still a bit cheaper than the dorms.
Even if students are given a cut in rent that reflects the reduced price of the dorm, I sincerely doubt that the university will pass up another opportunity to bleed students dry.
The cost of building everyone’s dream college experience is one of the reasons people are paying 50-70k/ year for college.
If this design shaves off 10k/year in costs that’s a down payment on a condo.
Maybe that tradeoff seems unreasonable to people. But the ability to see and make those kinds of trade offs is… just maybe… one of the reasons Charlie is a billionaire.