It seems a lot of schools incur a lot of debt for these athletic buildings. Notre Dame does athletic building projects differently and thus avoids this type of debt issue. Notre Dame’s stadium renovations, particularly the massive "Crossroads" stadium project in 2017, were almost entirely funded through private donations (largely from its extensive alumni network), alongside advance ticket payment options. The university typically requires 110% of construction costs to be pledged before breaking ground. Those athletic buildings do not get built otherwise. "The process of building new facilities is not considered lightly. Notre Dame has implemented a construction funding policy, under which buildings are primarily funded by contributions from benefactors, and therefore, the funding of new buildings does not impact tuition costs. The construction funding policy was created in 2000 by Malpass, Sejdinaj and Rev. Tim Scully, C.S.C., the former executive vice president of the university, and was approved by the board. “We have a little more of a conservative approach to finances, which is consistent with our roots and heritage. A little more pay as you go, a little less leverage,” Malpass says. “The construction funding policy is one of the things that I’m most proud of because it put us in great shape.” (Unrelated but reflective of ND's financial policies, it has flatly rejected the idea of private equity)