The fees college students paid to support sports programs at six universities in Georgia amounted to almost $213 million over the five-years, an analysis by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found.
Nationwide, in the past five years public universities pumped more than $10.3 billion in mandatory student fees and other subsidies into their sports programs, according to a recent report by The Chronicle of Higher Education and Huffington Post.
The report reviewed the financial reports of 201 public universities competing in Division 1 intercollegiate sports.
For some elite athletic programs like the University of Georgia and Georgia State, the dependency on student fees and other subsidies — including school and government support — is lower. But students at other institutions like Georgia State and Kennesaw, the subsidy is high. In 2014, the percent of sports program revenue from subsidies at Kennesaw State, Georgia State, Georgia Southern and Savannah State universities was at least 67 percent.
Despite the cost, college officials say students expect their schools to field competitive sports programs, and many times students vote to increase their fees to pay for them.
Read more at myAJC.com about the subsides of college athletic programs. There you'll be able to explore extra features including an interactive look at athletics funding for six of Georgia's colleges for the past five years. And check out the slide show of which Georgia colleges spend the most on sports programs.
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