How much do you currently pay to subsidize your school's sports? (schools, programs)

[curtisc83]

This sums up why universities are all about sports.

High-Visibility Athletic Programs and the Prestige of Public Universities | The Sport Journal

[villageidiot1]

Originally Posted by slim04

The 7 profitable schools figure is a little misleading because most of the power conference schools operate to break even. Having a slight year to year loss is no big deal, especially when they know they have big donations or TV contract money coming down the pike. I've heard there are about 40-50 schools that essentially have self funded sports programs. They may charge students nominal activity fees to gain access to sport program facilities or get free tickets to certain sporting events, but it isn't usually more than $100 a year. Nothing like the subsidies apparently charged by these lesser sports conferences.

So "The 7 profitable schools figure is a little misleading because" you've heard something different. If you look at the USA Today article they provide data for six years. It includes schools in the power conferences. The information shows that 216 of the 227 schools needed at least $1M from student activity fees to break even. Since the data does not include private schools, can you provide a cite for your claim, beyond that you heard it?

Regarding student activity fees, I checked two D II schools in Pennsylvania and their student activity fees were $567 and $403 per year. There was no information provided on how much of that goes to varsity athletics.

[golfgal]

I just looked--the student activity fee is $190. Again, that is not just for sports--it's also for concerts, plays, bands, etc. that come to campus as well as any other activity, etc. that the students can enjoy. That $190 is less than we pay annually for our kids to be in sports, band, etc. in high school .

Originally Posted by golfgal

Nothing....our kids have a small athletic fee, $100/year I think, that gets them into all events on campus, athletic, arts, etc., for free. I'm sure their athletic program is in the hole, but they have happy alum that give big bucks to the school that not only helps keep the sports programs functioning, they also give very healthy academic scholarships....we are certainly getting more money from the college then we will ever give them....

First off, $100 is not nothing. It may be a good deal for students who attend the games, but it's certainly not a bargain for people who don't attend, or who maybe only attend one or two games. And of course the $100 isn't necessarily all the athletic department is getting. Berkeley is one particularly well-documented example, because the faculty were outraged that money was being used to subsidize an ever-growing athletics department while academic buildings were going unmaintained and the people who work in them were barely making enough to survive. Millions of dollars in subsidies every year, coming right out of students' pockets. That's money that should have been spent on academics, or not charged to students in the first place.

Intercollegiate Athletics « UC Berkeley Budget Crisis
UC Berkeley urged to slash athletics subsidy - SFGate

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by JasonF

First off, $100 is not nothing. It may be a good deal for students who attend the games, but it's certainly not a bargain for people who don't attend, or who maybe only attend one or two games. And of course the $100 isn't necessarily all the athletic department is getting. Berkeley is one particularly well-documented example, because the faculty were outraged that money was being used to subsidize an ever-growing athletics department while academic buildings were going unmaintained and the people who work in them were barely making enough to survive. Millions of dollars in subsidies every year, coming right out of students' pockets. That's money that should have been spent on academics, or not charged to students in the first place.

Intercollegiate Athletics « UC Berkeley Budget Crisis
UC Berkeley urged to slash athletics subsidy - SFGate

It's nothing when they give it all back to you in academic scholarships. The fee isn't just for "games". It's for all on-campus events that the students could attend. If they choose not to, that's not really the fault of the college.

[fibonacci]

So much for education....
Y! SPORTS

[Gatornation]

Most schools charge some athletic fee per credit. The schools that are charging obscene rates are usually larger university in lesser conferences that are attempting to build up their football program. Let's not forget that a lot of these programs wouldn't be losing money if it wasn't for title 9. I'm all for title 9 but it ends up putting programs in the red.

[DSS94]

The athletic fee at Appalachian State is $334 a semester, but it's guaranteed to go up because of the move to Division I FBS.

That's just for athletics, as you can see from the complete fee schedule here - Tuition Details | Student Accounts | Appalachian State University. Concerts, cultural events, speakers, etc. are separate fees.

At least we get free home-game tickets out of the deal (hopefully that doesn't change with the conference move)

[DSS94]

In addition to the $334 athletic fee, $73.50 is going to the "retirement of debt" from recent athletic facility improvements.

So overall, I'm paying $815 a year to prop up the athletics program. I'm kind of pissed off now that I know that.

[NJBest]

Originally Posted by curtisc83

This sums up why universities are all about sports.

High-Visibility Athletic Programs and the Prestige of Public Universities | The Sport Journal

Public Universities are expensive to attend.