Students at big-money sports universities pay heavily to support expensive, money-losing football and basketball teams, a major national report says.
"In the past five years, public universities pumped more than $10.3 billion in mandatory student fees and other subsidies into their sports programs," a study by The Chronicle of Higher Education and Huffington Post said. "... Nearly 130 athletic departments rely on subsidies for over half their revenue." Among those 130 schools, the average football loss was $17.6 million.
West Virginia University and Marshall University were listed among schools that take money from all students to maintain costly teams. At WVU, both the football and basketball coaches get around $3 million per year - vastly more than top professors.
WVU's yearly report to the NCAA says it gets $62 million annually for sports - $18.8 million from ticket sales, $15.4 million from NCAA broadcast rights, $11.7 million from sales of logo items, $5 million from donations and $4.3 million from student fees.
The same report shows attendance at football and basketball games declining substantially. Why should all WVU students be charged $4.3 million for games many of them don't attend?
In the Jan. 3 Wall Street Journal, Drexel University President John Fry said he's glad that Drexel quit the big-money rat-race that requires $100 million stadiums, millionaire coaches and escalating costs to students.
"Athletic spending increased by 25 percent at public four-year colleges between 2004 and 2011, adjusted for inflation," while academic outlays stayed flat, Dr. Fry wrote. "The median pay for NCAA Division I football head coaches increased 93 percent between 2006 and 2012. Median pay for professors rose a mere 4 percent." He continued:
"These athletic programs wouldn't survive in the private economy, and only function by 'taxing' the rest of the university. The mounting sports losses force universities to divert funding from the fundamental task of educating students."
Clemson University attempted to impose a $350 yearly student fee to support athletics - but students protested, and the plan was dropped.
Of course, sports-crazy West Virginians, including most state politicians, aren't likely to lessen their support for university sports. But at least they should be aware that students are footing the bill.