They are swimming in so much cash that they've bought up at least three major apartment complexes off campus...

You mention Ducey's cuts to the education budget, but he was hardly the first to cut the budget. Just look at what happened in the fiscal year of 2009 due to budget cuts:

ASU is also closing about four dozen academic programs, many on the Tempe campus, and scaling down administrative operations at its Polytechnic and West campuses, in response to state budget reductions, which have totaled $88 million or 18% of the university's base state budget since June 2008.

In just 8 years "Arizona is spending 47 percent less this year per college student than it did in 2008, adjusted for inflation."

Going even further, "Arizona’s higher education funding already stands nearly 50 percent below pre-recession levels, and tuition at its public four-year colleges has increased by almost 84 percent since 2008."

ASU is clearly not loaded with money. ASU and other state schools are pouring money into dorms/apartments and stadiums because these are some of the ways left to the schools to financially stay afloat, i.e. pack the school with as many students as physically possible, and try to milk your athletic programs for ticket sales.