How much do universities spend per student annually on average in the US?

Why do large corporations like IBM spend resources on connecting with universities and schools to build student communities?

• Most of the technology giants I know of have a strong presence in the student communities. They have entrepreneurship programs, environment related programs etc. I wonder why do they spend so much money in running these programs to connect with the student community?

• Answer:

  Several reasons: They can leverage relatively low cost, but usually bright people who can work on problems and explore research that they might not want to pay a more expensive full-time employee to work on. They can get to know likely candidates working within the programs to see if they would be a good fit to work at the company. It's far better than reading a slushpile of resumes. They can explore more avenues of research easily (someone related to #1). They get access to college professors who are working in specialized areas. They can get their products into the hands of student with the hope that familiarity works into sales (one big reason Microsoft practically gives away it's software). It looks good for big companies to endow or fund university research. They get their name on the building, program, or any works that is generated from it. Universities benefit as well They get to align with leading companies which helps attract professors, students, and funds. They get access to low cost software and hardware. they can offset the costs of building new programs by using endowments from big companies. They might get some direction on course content, etc.