Okay, as someone whose wife once worked in grants administration at Harvard, and knows about 10 other people who currently work or have worked in administration at Harvard, I can offer a counterpoint (this quote comes directly from a friend who currently works in grants administration at Harvard):

> These “fortunes” are mostly restricted for specific use because they’re endowments. The salaries that pay financial admins mostly come from grant overhead…not endowments. Also, I can safely say at the dental school that we don’t have enough administratiors…largely because higher ed doesn’t exactly pay well. The Kennedy school just axed all of its admissions and financial aid department. One trip to the Smith Bldg is not exactly what I call getting a birds eye view of a largely decentralized university. All schools are responsible for their own fundraising and financing. But someone has to turn that money into income. That’s what the Smith Bldgs occupants largely do.