N.Y.U.’s Vacation Home Loans

“That’s getting to be a little too sexy even for me, and I have a good sense of humor about these things,” said Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, a former president of George Washington University who has publicly defended high salaries for professors and university executives.

Trachtenberg is commenting in the Times about N.Y.U. loaning out money to some faculty members and administrators to buy vacation homes. A university spokesperson declined to comment on the terms of the loans, such as interest rates and forgiveness provisions, but the story indicates that the interest rates could be as low as 0.19 percent. Which, okay, fine, faculty loans are an incentive to attract talent, but it seems a little shady to be so opaque about it all. I’m sure those N.Y.U. students would love to have that kind of interest rate on their education loans.

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