The Debate on Paying College Athletes- The Cost of Academics

The world of college athletics may be headed for a major schism if Northwestern University doesn't win an appeal, and its football players vote in favor of a union.  For many who believe that only a select few schools should be eligible for a national championship, a vote in favor of a union representing college athletes is nothing more than a backdoor step in that direction.  For those who believe athletes are abused because they make so much money for their college and the schools don't give them a stipend, it is pretty apparent they have read more headlines than they have researched facts.

In today's information age, it is a surprise that people don't search for the numbers showing how little athletes receive.  If they took the time to research this topic, they would find the average college student is abused by its school, for the benefit of the student athlete.  As tuition costs continue to rise at schools across the nation, the amount of money given to an athletic department has grown at a faster pace, than what is allotted to the education of an average full-time college student.

The Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics created a database with the financial data from public schools across FBS football between 2005 and 2012; private schools, such as Northwestern, are not required to report such findings.  The data shows the spending at colleges and universities, in an effort to encourage transparency in how money is used by athletic departments in comparison to the mission of their respective schools: educating students.  You can look at the average amount of costs for educating a full-time student, how much a school or government entity allots for athletics at the school, the operating costs of the athletic department per student athlete, and the operating costs for the athletic department for each scholarship football player.  It also breaks it down by conference, and even school.

In 2012: the SEC, ACC, Big Ten and Big XII institutional funding per student athlete was less than educating costs per full-time student.  The Big Ten actually cut institutional and government funding for athletic departments by 45 percent between 2005 and 2012.  In the PAC-12, Big East, and all of the remaining conferences, academic costs per full-time student was less than funding per student athlete.  In Conference USA, the cost for educating a student actually dropped, whereas the other three categories grew.  In no case, did any of these categories come close to athletic spending per athlete, and the amount of money spent on scholarship football players was even more for each conference.  The SEC showed a 101 percent increase in operating costs for each scholarship football player: $262,486 in 2012.

Even though Northwestern is a private school, it is a member of the Big Ten.  The Big Ten average for institutional spending per athlete was $2,592; average academic costs per full-time student was $18,606; average athletic department operating costs per student athlete was $130,835; average athletic department spending per scholarship football player was $213,987.

Self-sustaining athletic departments were discussed in a previous blog.  Pennsylvania State University, The Ohio State University, Purdue University and Nebraska University were four of seven schools who fall under this category, meaning they do not rely on institutional funding to support the athletic departments.  Penn State's numbers were not available, but Purdue was the only school where educating costs increased more than institution spending on athletes, and costs increased more than the average FBS program.

Though it is not considered self-sustaining, Wisconsin increased academic spending more than athletes, but it was just over half the average FBS program.  Indiana, Iowa and Michigan actually increased athletic spending by more than the FBS average of 77 percent.  Iowa increased athletic spending by 92 percent, and academic spending by 44 percent: both more than the average FBS program.