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DEL.ICIO.USSpending on athletics or education?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The executive director of the Center for Excellence in Higher Education writes in an AJC opinion column:
“Twenty-six percent of all dollars donated to Division I-A colleges and universities now go to athletics, according to an analysis published in the April 2007 issue of the Journal of Sport Management. In 1998, the comparable figure was 14.7 percent.
“In fact, the Chronicle of Higher Education reported late last year that overall spending on sports has been growing “at a rate three times faster than that for spending on the rest of the campus.” And for most schools, according to recently released NCAA research, sports program costs exceed revenues. Only the top athletic powerhouses make money —- and, frequently, only when they win.
“Where’s the money going? Mostly, it goes to build new stadiums, arenas and practice facilities to showcase the schools’ gladiators. George Washington University, for example, in the nation’s capital, recently announced “the largest single donation in the institution’s history.” The $10 million gift was not for an academic program, but for the renovation of the Charles E. Smith Center, where the Colonials’ basketball teams play.
“Ten million dollars is just the tip of the iceberg. Schools in the six top college athletic conferences, which include the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac 10, received more than $3.9 billion in donations for athletic facilities from 2002 to 2007 alone, the Chronicle of Higher Education says. What’s more, “Over the next few years, [these] big-time athletic programs hope to raise an additional $2.5 billion for new buildings.”
“The question that needs to be asked is why are schools spending big bucks on athletic facilities for a relative handful of semipro athletes when academics should be their focus?”
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By Ty Cobb
July 28, 2008 8:53 AM | Link to this
Athletics or Education? That’s easy. Spend the money on the Science of Football. Did Football evolve, or was it invented by two guys and a can of coors light, and a weekend to kill?
Now, many believe that rugby was the forerunner to football, but I say “hooey”! Some people think that cricket was the neanderthal of baseball. (more hooey).
Now I know they keep digging up old relics of splintered cricket bats, and withered carcasses of old rugby balls, but those were planted by the Hall of Fame to test us, to see if we’d ever bother with false idles like rugby and cricket. Thou shalt have no games before me!!
Baseball and Football just happened. There was the primordial aroma of cracker jacks, hot dogs and beer and then a big bang and let there be monday night!
By "The Corporal"
July 28, 2008 8:55 AM | Link to this
College athletics, especially football, is out of control. We all know it but no one will do anything about it. The “student-athlete” is a thing of the past and a great number of players never were, aren’t and will never be college material. They are simply part of a “farm system” for the NFL. Sad but true. The players are treated as royalty, have little or no interaction with regular students and see themselves as prima donnas as they have been treated as such since little league. We made this mess - I doubt we can fix it. The genie has been long out of the bottle……………
By zeke
July 28, 2008 9:17 AM | Link to this
What idiots! Most, not all, college athletics programs are self sustaining by the contributions of their fans and club members! It is my right to donate my money strictly to athletics if that is what I desire! The problem with the money in college athletics is the ridiculous title IX! It make a school invest millions of dollars to sports that will never ever sustain themselves! Colleg football, and , to a much smaller extent basketball, support all other programs! In fact at the real USC, South Carolina, the athletics department give about $10 million a year to the academic departments! College athletics give untold amounts of people an opportunity to get an education that they may not have otherwise, if they take advantage of the acadedemics. However, you cannot force them to do that, and, that is not the fault of the athletics department!+
By Whoa
July 28, 2008 9:22 AM | Link to this
who cares about education when you can find someone India to do everything cheaper.
By Ty Cobb
July 28, 2008 9:57 AM | Link to this
Athletics or Education? That’s easy. Spend the money on the Science of Football. Did Football evolve, or was it invented by two guys and a can of coors light, and a weekend to kill?
Now, many believe that rugby was the forerunner to football, but I say “hooey”! Some people think that cricket was the neanderthal of baseball. (more hooey).
Now I know they keep digging up old relics of splintered cricket bats, and withered carcasses of old rugby balls, but those were planted by the Hall of Fame to test us, to see if we’d ever bother with false idles like rugby and cricket. Thou shalt have no games before me!!
Baseball and Football just happened. There was the primordial aroma of cracker jacks, hot dogs and beer and then a big bang and let there be monday night!
By Sam
July 28, 2008 10:16 AM | Link to this
We are talking donations here. That is money that people voluntarily give to a university so these donors have a say in where that money goes.
How about a comparison of total giving? My guess is that even with 26% going to athletics the total amount to academics has still grown. The report mentions the growth rate, but not the actual amounts.
Maybe the donors find that they do not want to give to a university’s academic fund because academics have been so diluted at the college level. I estimate that about 25% of students at a 4 year school should not be there—maybe juco. Any student taking remedial classes should not be at a 4 year college.
By rightytighty
July 28, 2008 11:25 AM | Link to this
Due to the state of our current progressive education system, it is easy to see that today’s graduate’s athletic skills offer them about the same return in life as their education skills. In fact, it is so bad that I would be utterly ashamed to hang this title in front of my name..,
“The executive director of the Center for Excellence in Higher Education”
By Bob
July 28, 2008 1:44 PM | Link to this
People can donate to which ever program they prefer. And I would almost be willing to bet that a LOT of folks who donate to athletic programs ALSO donate to academics. Even if they don’t, it is there money.
Meanwhile, most athletes are also students. Also students and alumni enjoy the entertainment value of sports. Give me a good NCAA game over the pros any day.
By lovelyliz
July 28, 2008 2:18 PM | Link to this
Given that when you add it all up, the majority of NCAA DIV I sports programs, yes including football, still lose $$$$, it should go to education.
That being said, people can donate their $$$ whereever they like and if that happens to be athletics then so be it.
Expenditures and donation show where the priorities really are anyway.
By lovelyliz
July 28, 2008 2:24 PM | Link to this
NCAA Study Shows that Most Athletic Programs Lose Money May 22, 2008
A recently released NCAA report concluded that most college and university athletic departments are losing money. This study is given more credence by observers as it utilized an accounting method that separated institutional allocations from money earned through ticket sales and private donations.
Here are the highlights of the study:
Only 17 of the more than 300 Division I athletic programs earned a net profit between 2004 and 2006 Ticket sales and private donations accounted for more than half of all revenue 16 of the 17 profitable programs came from Division 1-A, also known as the Football Bowl Subdivision
The fastest growing expenses in Division I sports programs are coaching salaries: in Division I-A, the median salary for head football coaches grew by 47 percent between 2004 and 2006, rising to $855,500 from $582,000, while the median salary for men’s basketball coaches rose 15 percent, to $611,900
In addition to rising coaching salaries, the construction of state-of-the art facilities is a significant expense for institutions
http://chronicle.com/temp/email2.php?id=ynMgz4qndmcjgcRjDpMqk9wzPXGPfyfC
By Mr. Chips
July 28, 2008 3:06 PM | Link to this
It would be worth giving educators all the donation as they requested just to see them squander it.
The greed from those misguided, well-intentioned educators will tell us exactly who to fire.
I propose to lead the next fund raising effort for this great cause of education. Give me 12 good disciplined men.
I met a lesbian middleschool PE teacher about 40’ something. I hope we are friends. I spent a month with her. I talked with her for over five or six hours spread out over that month. She was so beautiful. But she had thrown in the towel on disciplining children. I was astonished at her crude predictions about her student’s futures.
This student/teacher unit is broken completely. I think I can lead a new educational movement toward parent/teacher/student/principle reconciliation. The interpersonal interactions are unprofessional. The boundaries between student and teachers are arbitrary. Confusion and chaos live in every middleschool. One avenue involves the fact that he expectations have to be more clearly communicated between the four parties equally. No party need be exploited. Education’s progress needs these four equal parts. Solutions are achievable.
Curiculuum issues are separate from the reconciliation issues. Curiculuum issues are for society to choose. Reconciliation between teacher/student/parent/principle is about the people factor. The human logistics of a school. A school. Students. Masses of students creating a galaxy of real life stars. The human orbital dance. The actual physical movement of each student alone and en masse.. You have to learn how to get along. School.
Donations appreciated.
By rightytighty
July 28, 2008 3:37 PM | Link to this
More money is being spent today on education than at any other time in history. It has in fact, almost doubled in the last 8 yrs.
Yet, 50% of first year students continue to drop out before entering their Junior year, and 50% of those surviors drop out before graduating. only 17% gradute with a Math or Science degree. Less than 3% of those that started..
So…, perhaps the executive director of the Center for Excellence in Higher Education should be more concerned about the level of higher education in those that are graduating. Our world ranking in academics proves that funding is not the problem.
By AfroDawg
July 28, 2008 3:39 PM | Link to this
When the “Dawgs” win the championship in football this upcoming season, there’ll be more money in the coffers for other things. If the science department can get 92,000 people to come to Athens and spend money to attend a symposium on the mating habits of the African Fruit Fly, I’ll buy into education over athletics.
By slotl
July 28, 2008 3:53 PM | Link to this
This is a no-brainer. Spend the money on education. Pro sports are there for a reason!!
Student/Athletes are a joke. They are paid, pampered, and forgiven of their vast sins. The athletes major is basketweaving, physical education, surfing or the like. Universities are there to EDUCATE not build sports dynasties.
Maybe the breakdown of our education system is caused by the public desire for atheletic sports rather than the number of “educated” graduates.