Public university in New Jersey blows $219K on a fancy table

Wonder why college tuition prices keep climbing? Well, for students of Kean University, a public school in New Jersey, at least a small part of the answer to that question is one really fancy table.

Kean's administration purchased a custom conference table for $219,000 without competitive bidding, and they've allocated another $51,000 to potentially spend on the project. The table is made of oak, and it "features data ports, microphones, and an illuminated map of the world in a glass panel at its center," reports NorthJersey.com.

Annual instate tuition for Kean students is about $11,200, meaning the university spent five students' entire tuition payments for their four-year degree on one piece of furniture.

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