Georgia State University isn't getting a football team until 2010?

Tell that to GSU student Andrew Martin, who has been suiting up in Panther blue and white since last year.

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Martin and a ragtag group of Georgia State football players have taken on junior varsity teams at schools like Clemson, Duke and North Carolina as part of a club program, scraping together funding and support as they go along.

Sure, it's been a little disorganized, Martin admits. And yes, it's club ball, not varsity, meaning they get by on a $5,000 budget from the intramurals department.

"But we definitely have a team," says Martin, a graduate student who plans to become a sports agent.

Martin will graduate before GSU plays varsity football, but other students on campus Wednesday were enthusiastic about the expected announcement today kicking off plans for a full blown Division I-AA football program.

"I'm a big college football fan so I think it's awesome," said Ruth Levy, 19.

Levy is one of the more traditional college students that GSU, long a commuter school, has been coveting. She graduated from Central Gwinnett High School last year, lives on campus and likes sticking around for basketball games after classes.

Martin couldn't be happier and says he hopes his guys are out there on the field.

"There's a lot of talent here already," he said.

The multi-million dollar, multi-year endeavor to bring football to campus will eventually pit the Panthers against their opponents under the lights of the giant Georgia Dome.

Georgia State has been morphing into a more traditional college campus, with dorms, rec centers, and now even Greek housing in the works. The Varsity football team is one more piece in the campus puzzle.

Georgia State students will pick up most of the tab for the program, paying $85 more in student athletics fees beginning next fall.

The higher fees make GSU the state's most expensive public college for undergrads.

The fee hike for the first time puts the cost of attending the 28,000 student urban Atlanta school a few dollars above the cost of attendance at Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia.

Beginning this fall, Georgia State students will pay $3,028 in tuition and fees, including the mandatory student fee bump from $494 to $600. Fees at Georgia State have jumped nearly $300 per semester since 2000.

Georgia State student Elizabeth Sleeman, 27, doesn't mind the extra money. Sleeman commutes from Gwinnett and said she probably won't stick around campus for football games. Still, she said, she supports the idea.

"It's good for the school, it's good for a lot of people who would go," she said. "I don't have a problem helping to pay for it."

Of course, not all Georgia State students are as enthusiastic.

Beth Cunningham, 20, said she'd rather see an investment in fine arts or academics.

"If we're going to be paying more money, we should be putting it to good use," she said.