U.S. colleges and universities are overspending on unnecessary programs and campus perks – often financing pet projects via a growing “subclass” of adjunct and part-time faculty, says Robert Reich, former U.S. Secretary of Labor and now a professor of public policy at the University of California—Berkeley.

In a recent interview with U.S. News & World Report, Reich addressed the rising cost of a college education and drew a correlation between how schools spend their money and the cost for students. He believes schools are overspending on amenities and that college and university bureaucracies have become too large and redundant.

“You don’t need that many administrators,” he says.

A report published in April by the American Association of University Professors may support Reich’s contention.

“Losing Focus,” an annual report on the economic status of U.S. college faculty, presents data that indicate lopsided growth of administrative staff and a disparity in wages for top administrators and professors. The report claims disproportionate increases in the hiring of contingent faculty (part-time and non-tenure-track adjunct professors).

From 2000 to 2010, the median salary for top administrators at public universities rose 39 percent, according to the report. Wages for public university presidents increased by 75 percent in that time, while full-time professor salaries gained just close to 19 percent. At private colleges and universities, top administrative salaries increased at least 97 percent, with presidential salaries rising 171 percent. Full-time faculty at private and independent schools increased roughly 50 percent during the same period, the report states.

Samuel Dunietz, research and policy analyst at AAUP, says he’s not sure what accounts for the disproportionate salary increases for top college administrators, but he believes the significant increases in contingent faculty are a symptom of a larger problem: the priorities of college administrators.

“When you look at the hiring of faculty there’s a very clear trend of contingent faculty and specifically part-time faculty increasing much faster than tenure-track positions,” Dunietz says. “When you consider the huge increases in full-time, non-faculty professionals – administrators and coaches – not directly involved with the actual teaching of students, [AAUP] believes it’s not where the priority should be.”

From 1978 to 2014, administrative positions rose 369 percent, according to the AAUP report. The number of part-time faculty increased by 286 percent; and full-time, non-tenure-track positions grew by 259 percent. Conversely, full-time tenure and tenure-track appointments increased just 23 percent during the same period, the report concludes.

For Reich, part of the problem stems from schools spending money on unnecessary campus amenities to attract students – building student unions and athletic facilities that “resemble country clubs.”

“These amenities are extremely expensive and contribute to the escalating cost of college,” he says. “Moreover, they have very little or anything to do with the education of most young people.”

David Kociemba, an adjunct professor at Emerson College and chair of AAUP’s Committee for Contingency and the Profession – a committee that provides advocacy and resources for contingent faculty – agrees and points to how colleges market themselves to perspective students.

“Colleges are trying to showcase their value through visuals like dining halls, palatial new buildings and the ubiquitous rock-climbing walls, not the quality of their professors and programs,” he says. “A university’s primary product is delivering an education, and [colleges] don’t even devote half of their resources to the classroom. Instead, [resources] are directed toward transforming schools into the most expensive summer camp ever.”

Rolf Wegenke, president and CEO of the Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities and a former board member of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, acknowledges the increase in college administrative positions, but says one must “dig down and look at what’s behind it.”

“The Department of Education counts all student counselors as administrators,” Wegenke explains. “Increasingly and unfortunately, this includes psychological counseling.”

Another contributor to the administrative ranks is staff to upgrade and maintain technology support systems.

“When you update your IT systems campus-wide, it means hiring and training more support people. And they also count as part of the administrative infrastructure,” he adds.

In response to criticism regarding campus amenities, Wegenke says: “Is a library an amenity? Is a theater or concert hall an amenity? I would argue that all of these are essential components of a quality education.”

He adds: “If amenities mean buildings, financing buildings is primarily from major gifts, and not funded out of operating revenue, while faculty compensation is funded out of operating revenue.”

Wegenke says the fastest-growing contributor to increased administrative staff and overall operating expenses for colleges is federal, state, accrediting and other association regulatory compliance obligations, and he references a study conducted by Hartwick College in 2012.

The “Compliance at Hartwick College” report looked at the cost and resources associated with various government and association compliance regulations.

The report found that Hartwick College is regulated by 28 federal agencies, 15 state agencies, four local governments, seven accrediting agencies, three athletic associations and four private organizations. Of the three athletic associations, the NCAA alone has at least 94 annual compliance requirements to which Hartwick must attend.

The Higher Education Compliance Alliance, which provides information and resources regarding federal compliance rules, identifies at least 259 separate federal compliance regulations all U.S. college and universities are required to report. According to the Hartwick study, the annual cost of all compliances for the college, a small liberal arts school in upstate New York with 1,500 undergraduates, totaled roughly $300,000.

Emerson’s Kociemba, however, is unconvinced and believes a one-to-one comparison of regulatory compliances and increased administrative hires doesn’t add up. To him, it’s a paltry argument and a sign of “administrative bloat.”

“Compliance costs are real, but insignificant to the argument justifying why colleges direct only 30 to 35 percent of their budgets towards instruction costs. Again, I think it’s a matter of priorities.”

When compared to Hartwick’s annual expenses, the cost of these compliances, identified in the Hartwick report, total less than 1 percent of its $76 million yearly operating budget.

Hartwick College President Margaret Drugovich, defends the findings and says the report was a first-of-its-kind attempt to gauge regulatory expenses and merely scratched the surface of actual cost.

“The caveat with [the report] is that the actual cost of compliance for Hartwick and other schools is much greater than that. Some of my colleagues estimate it to be 15 to 20, even 25 percent, of their overall operating budget. “

In response to criticism over “‘administrative bloat,”‘ Drugovich acknowledges that campus amenities contribute to the competition for students at most colleges. However, given the increasing demands to produce work-ready graduates, many schools – including Hartwick – are adding new administrative positions to help students meet the demands of the workforce.

“There’s a lot of interest in job placement and making sure that students are well-prepared and getting jobs. If you just look at those positions you might say, ‘Look, here’s another example of bloat.’ I’m not sure whether this is the kind of activity that falls into the category of ‘administrative bloat,’ but I know it’s real.”

For Reich, the larger questions surrounding the future of higher education in the United States ultimately come down to what colleges and universities are supposed to do: “producing good citizens and expanding horizons.”