Current university administrator here, haha.Never suggested it wasn't a good use of money.
Just pointing out that there may be things available to university student's now that were not offered in the 70's and 80's that help explain at least some of the reason the cost of a college education has increased faster than inflation.
As universities add more/expanded services, they also must add administrators to handle providing and maintaining those services. As Brew Poke mentioned, those services and the salaries/benefits of those that provide them are covered in part by an increase in tuition cost.
Universities are adding these services because students were doing them anyway. The history of college athletics, student services, and student activities all boils down to... students wanted it, they started doing it on their own, and someone else started regulating it.