Colleges Pay Millions to Host a Presidential Debate

Winning the right to host a presidential debate is an expensive victory. Washington University in St. Louis was prepared to spend between $4 million and $5 million to host the 90-minute matchup Sunday evening between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. That’s in line with what Hofstra University (where the first debate of 2016 took place) and Longwood University (the site of this year’s only vice-presidential debate) shelled out to bring the candidates to campus.  Why spend so much money on something that’s over so quickly?