Four tickets were purchased by Bournville College in Birmingham under former principal Norman Cave, a Freedom of Information request has revealed.
The Longbridge further education college also held a Â£170,000 centenary event, a Â£35,000 staff party, and paid consultants Â£2.8m over three years.
Mr Cave, who has since retired, denied any claims of financial mismanagement.
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New bosses at the college said they no longer had the season tickets.
A whistleblower, who wished to remain anonymous, said previous management was "chaotic" and it was "clear funds were spent where they shouldn't have been".
Referring to the Manchester United tickets, the source told the BBC: "I could possibly understand it if it were a local team [and] you would be showing off Birmingham at its best, but Manchester? No."
More than 100 redundancies were made at the college during the last year- almost a quarter of the workforce.
New interim principal Michelle Sutton said: "The college has experienced a period of financial challenges as a result of some of the strategic decisions that have been taken in the past."
She said the management team had been halved in size and that a recovery plan was now in place.
Regarding the football tickets, the college added: "The previous management team pursued a strategy of growth, of which the relationship with Manchester United was part.
"The new management team and board cannot comment further on the rationale and detail behind decisions taken by the previous management team.
"However, we can confirm that these arrangements no longer exist."
A college bought Manchester United season tickets in a "growth strategy" before cutting more than 100 jobs.