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by dudifordMann 3698 days ago
Tuition has been on the rise, from what I can tell, due to excessive, frivolous and/or unchecked expenditures[1][2] with the guise of benefiting the universities and their students.

One example is the ridiculous salaries payed to the athletic staffs of these universities. Even the research universities like UC Berkley pay upwards of 5.4 million contracted salary[3]. The counter argument to this is that these sports programs pay for the research( though some believe that is more often not the case[4]) So even if I grant that this may be true, and I understand supply and demand principals of "talented" coaches, come the on, these are just sports. And many athletic department, not all , are doing a great disservice to many of the athletes who are not encourage to reap the academic benefits the schools have to offer[5], when a scant percentage even move on to Olympic or professional sports careers[6]

I think step 0 of this article's intended plan should be to look at spending, and have accountability, remove internal bureaucracy and reduce some of the ridiculous salaries (coaches, presidents, etc) and determine what a fair tuition looks like.

[1]http://www.texaspolicy.com/blog/detail/more-outrageous-spend...

[2]http://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-me-uc-spending-201...

[3] http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:6sm-b1X...

[4]http://www.politifact.com/virginia/statements/2014/dec/22/ji...

[5]http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/college/2014/06/01/Do-col...

[6]http://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/research/estimated-proba...

1 comments

Coach pay at major conference schools is not a cost that students see. For instance, the Pac 12 has a 12 year, $3 billion TV deal. $250 million per year over 12 schools is $20 million per school. And they also have things like ticket revenue (tens of millions for football alone).

http://www.bruinsnation.com/2011/5/4/2153940/breaking-down-t...

I think it's a bad joke that they are called amateur student athletes, but it isn't costing other students money.

Right... so... if the coach is payed say less, than... could the students see a decrease in their tuition bill as the funds for the coach have freed up? Now, I am terrible at evaluating worth, especially for things as potentially complex as leading a sports team (was success due to the athletes? strategies? leadership? etc. Similarly for failure), but if Nick Saban is making 7.09 per year at Alabama, with a student population of 36k, the full salary divided by the population would be about $196 per year, which I am sure a student would love to see. (obviously my math is assuming full salary liquidation which is not realistic).
Finances for Div 1: http://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/finances/

Most athletic depts are subsized and this is just division 1. There are obviously a few winners here, but mostly losers and definitely a net loss.

Having been around that environment, it's just amazing how much money is being thrown around. The whole athletic budget is a giant slush fund, but they're just taking the lead from the university as a whole.