Are There Better Ways to Subsidize Athletics?

The cost of higher education sometimes includes fees that pay for intercollegiate athletics. While sports are a valued part of campus life, what would students select if they were given the choice between sports and tuition discounts?

“I have no idea, but I’ve been pondering this question as I consider the cost of running a sports program weighed against the cost of college to students,” John Warner wrote for a blog post for Inside Higher Ed. “Student-loan debt threatens the future prosperity of a significant proportion of college graduates—not to mention those who get loans, but don’t graduate—and it doesn’t take a crystal ball to see the potential for this to be a larger drag on the economic health of the nation.”

Based on data from USA Today, Warner postulated that erasing athletic subsidies could provide each student a discount of as much as $1,600 each year, decreasing their average student-loan debt by 25%. Research from the Urban Institute found that self-sustaining athletic programs would provide more than 680,000 Pell-equivalent scholarships.

One method that might work is through private donations and additional state funds. Clemson University used that combination to pay for its $55 million football facility, while the University of Alabama-Birmingham saved its football program through private donations.

“I like sports,” Warner continued. “I think schools would be diminished places without athletics, but when so many aspects of our public institutions are already impoverished, I believe we have to put every option on the table.”

Many, Not All, Able to Survive Hi-Ed Change

Most higher education institutions will adapt to change, but some won’t and may be forced to close, in the view of two economics professors at the College of William & Mary.

In an interview with Inside Higher Ed, Robert B. Archibald and David H. Feldman discussed how four-year colleges and universities are under pressure to provide value to students at an affordable cost. Feldman and Archibald are the authors of The Road Ahead for America’s Colleges & Universities and Why Does College Cost So Much?

Both said they believe there will be enough students to fill classrooms, due to greater enrollment by students who are older, lower-income, and from more diverse populations than the traditional student. However, institutions with a high percentage of low-income students may have a tough time finding the resources to adapt.

Flagship public schools and other selective institutions will be able to shift to a tuition-driven model that depends less on state support, according to Archibald. Highly selective private institutions with deep endowments will also make the leap.

“The ones that will fare worse are essentially the rest of the state institutions, particularly those in states less willing to support higher education and in states that are losing population,” Archibald said.

Colleges and universities will need to find a competitive edge to attract applicants. “All institutions outside of the most elite need to invest in something that sets them apart from hundreds of other similar institutions and which offers a real distinction among the much smaller set of schools that makes up their most important regional competitors,” Feldman said.