It’s not really a choice. Those schools tend to have very expensive, high maintenance campuses. I suppose they could also let all the buildings deteriorate but then they risk being closed against their well due to safety concerns.

In truth, the costs of these schools results from a ratchet effect. Wealthy donors buy the fancy buildings which the schools are then stuck maintaining. It’s a classic case of a white elephant [1].

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_elephant

It's not uncommon for organizations to have to downsize due to changing economic conditions.

In fact, when people ask why colleges are paying administrators 6-7 figure salaries while classes are taught by lecturers making a fraction of that, they say they need to compete with private industry for top talent. I would hope that an administrator making $300,000+ can come up with a more creative plan for what to do with high maintenance buildings than just "let them deteriorate".