> As a side-note, lately I've been curious about what's actually been driving the cost of higher education. I know it's often cited as "administrative costs", but what does that actually mean? Where does the money actually go?

If you're asking about tuition? A few places.

Marketing, sports stadiums, student services (Counselling, mental health, etc), bureaucratic waste (Middle managers overseeing operations people), overbuilt facilities that serve no pedagogical value (Stained glass windows and large, pretty university grounds don't maintain themselves).

But that's just the half of it. In addition to tuition, most universities force you to pay for room and board, by living on-campus. Those fees go into paying for overpriced, poor-quality catered food, and overpriced dorm rooms.