The vast majority of colleges and universities have decreased productivity in the past 20 years by hiring support staff at a rate far greater than enrollment, according to a report released Monday.

The survey conducted by the Center for College Affordability and Productivity polled 2,782 institutions, including 90 percent of four-year schools, representing 85.5 percent of all students enrolled in college around the country, according to Daniel Bennett, administrative director for the center.

According to the survey, the overall support staff, including counselors, recreational facility staff and other non-teaching staff, has almost doubled from 1987 to 2007. In the same time period, the number of professors and teachers increased by only 50 percent.

While enrollment also increased, it was not by a significant amount, increasing the ratio of staff members to students by 34 percent in favor of staff, according to Bennett.

“Universities are now doing less with more staff since there’s relatively the same amount of students,” Bennett said.

The reason for this, Bennett said, is increasing demands by students for more amenities to go along with their education.

He added an increasing student demand for things such as recreational facilities, entertainment and a multitude of other programs not related to academics has encouraged the “irresponsible” spending habits of most colleges and universities.

This trend is increasingly problematic in today’s economic climate, according to Bennett, since taxpayers are paying for a large portion of higher education in the form of student aid and loans, a high cost considering the increase in staff has contributed to an increase in tuition.

“In a time that you have an administration calling to send every kid to college, we want to be able to provide an education, and all these different things have made college more of a lifestyle than an investment in our future, so I don’t think this is a good thing to be spending taxpayer dollars on,” Bennett said. “Providing students with an education is a good thing, but providing them with luxurious dorms and multimillion-dollar workout facilities is something we should question.”

In an e-mail to The Badger Herald, University of Wisconsin System spokesperson David Giroux said non-instructional staff, including library staff, health services, police and financial aid counselors, plays many important roles in supporting students’ education.

The UW Data Digest reported an overall increase in staff over the past 10 years. According to Giroux, while enrollment in the UW System has increased, the number of state-funded employee positions has decreased.

“That said, we have seen a shift from tenure-track faculty to non-tenure instructional academic staff over the years, as all universities have become more reliant on less-stable funding sources,” Giroux said. “That’s been the subject of a lot of discussion and is a general concern.”

UW spokesperson John Lucas added a majority of the new construction on UW campus is largely funded through private gifts and donations and not state funds or tuition.