If anything, the administrators should go down in that time period that just happens to coincide with the mass adoption of computers by all businesses. What this graph is saying is that while the US population grew about 50% in that time (203-308 million), administrator incompetence grew 2300% over that time despite the mass adoption of computers. In other words, one administrator from the 70's could easily replace dozens if not hundreds of administrators today and get the same amount of work done. This kind of incompetence is beyond comprehension both at the administrator level and the executive level that hires them.

What do these administrators do (i.e. what's their value)? Are they like physicians with a leading/management role?

I like how everyone forgets about this particular issue when talking about healthcare

Wow! I bet plot looks the same for the costs of higher education!!