College Athletics - worth it?

[XH29N0G]

I just read an article on college athletics in the big schools that basically said: many if not most are money losers and the reason is spending.  They apparently also raise athletics fees for students and many take from the university.  My kid is just about to enter school to try to be an engineer - probably will like the athletics, but already has made statements about not wanting to pay for the athletic department (He asked his friends from last year who went and they told him that was one of their bigger non tuition related bills.  He also has to pay for part of his education so he is paying attention to the costs.)

The article is at:  

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/sports/wp/2015/11/23/running-up-the-bills/  


There are two big figures with red and black showing that you need to scroll down to which schools make money and which do not, and if they have gotten better or worse over the past ten years.

Our local university has been under hiring freezes, pay freezes and furloughs yet the athletics seems to grow and continue to lose more and  more money.  It seems to me like the system is broken and should be changed, but I thought I would ask the wisdom of the board.

[BSB67]

My observation: Universities have a spending problem, and not just in the athletics program.

[Mike DC]

              

My observation: Universities have a spending problem, and not just in the athletics program.

The epidemic of massive student loans has allowed the schools' spending-->tuition to spiral out of control.  

[Dino]

The cost of college be it tuition, books, athletics is out of control and downright obscene.  Yet the university's president's house had two new wings added in the short time I was on campus.  Go figure!  College can be a great scam, everyone knows it to be, but there's no other way to get a degree than to suck it up.

Weigh the options carefully and ask yourself what exactly you need to do to get those few letters behind your name and nothing more.  I needed 124 credits to graduate and ended up with 126.  I needed one more credit somewhere to get financial aid so I chose a 2 credit piano class just for fun.   

Got me this though.   

[stripedelete]

             

My observation: Universities have a spending problem, and not just in the athletics program.

The epidemic of massive student loans has allowed the schools' spending-->tuition to spiral out of control.  

Don't forget millenials MUST have their own bathroom and in many cases thier own bedroom.  The recreation facilities now rival country clubs.   
That's all in the tuition bill.

[XH29N0G]

Concerning tuition, there has been a move to shift support from state to students (users) over the past 20 or so years see below.  It is still a good deal.  the local University tuition is shy of 10K/year.  My wife got a degree there and now has a good job that pays much more than that.  I looked up Michigan and the UC system schools and they are about 15K/year.  Both are low compared to private secondary schools which in my area run $15-35K.  

My opinion is we got the tax breaks and we now pay the tuition that is simple and fair economics and consequences.  

My beef is with poorly run athletics programs.  Over and over again I read in the papers that athletics will pay it back to the universities, but if it is always negative, then this is a stupid argument.  My opinion is that athletics should pay for themselves or be forced to scale back. If the argument is that they bring money for the state, then that should be subsidized up front and separate and by the state so the voters can see their real costs and benefits.  I saved a lot more in taxes than I would pay for tuition. 

[73rallye440magnum]

I graduated from an engineering program last year at a University of Wisconsin school.

My opinion- college is for learning. Want athletic programs? They should sustain themselves. Want student clubs and orgs? Fund them yourself. What really toasts me is the student athlete priority course registration (before everyone else). Reason given- Because they need to manage their course work and their student athlete life. So what? They chose that lifestyle. Deal with it you bed-wetters. I made a big stink of this to the enrollment manager.

These are young and absorbing minds. This creates a mentality of 'everyone is responsible for sharing the burden of funding my interests'. What good could possibly come from that state of mind?

I was a non-traditional student. The all encompassing 'student life' (segregated) fees always chapped me (and continue to chap me once monthly).

The universities love to cry about how financially strained they are. Throughout my four years there was always, and continues to be significant remodels/upgrades/expansions on the campus I attended. I support this growth, but not the whining about everything.

Your son will have a comfortable life if he can pull this off. He's doing the right thing by being objective and questioning all the small print, and there is likely a petitioning process to segregated fees if he can make a defense argument. Good luck.

[BSB67]

They spend with reckless abandon.  Before he was fired from PSU, President Spanier boasted that through donations alone, they raised over $50 million,..... in a month.  It is a huge money making machine.  The private campuses that I have been on don't appear to spend like the large public Universities.

Educating undergraduates is not on their top ten things to do.

[bull]

Unless your kids are studying a practical, in-demand course of study they will most likely end up with $80k in student loan debt and just enough education to qualify as a barista.

As for athletics, it's worth it to an extent. It's advertising, basically. It promotes funding and donations from alumni and attracts kids who want to be part of a successful school.

[Mytur Binsdirti]

Dick Peeters?? And some people here think my name is bad.

[XH29N0G]

Shame on you for picking on on dino!  

From what I see it looks like he did better in school than me.

Also looks like he is dutch (which means thrifty is a virtue - my wife is from western Michigan too).

[Dino]

 

Actually I'm Belgian (born and raised) and I live on te east side of Michigan.  I'm only thrifty because of my dad, but I'm getting better at it.  Doesn't mean a thing when you're broke though. 

Sorta on topic: I just received word that I have been invited by the PA faculty of EMU for an interview!  There were about 1000 applicants this year so this is a very good sign.   

Now I'm really gonna be broke at $70K for the two year program, but it's well worth the investment.  It'll be a few years but that old iron may see some nice upgrades yet.   

[XH29N0G]