[nikdaheratik]

Sports have little to do with it as most of that money is completely separate from the operating budgets of the Public Universities. It does seem to be a good way to attract students for whatever reason. Textbooks are expensive because they have a limited monopoly, but they still aren't a huge expense compared to the per-hour tuition and fees.

The issue, IMO, comes down to decades of budget cuts from state legislatures that ends up being borne by the students. The "fees" end up paying for new buildings for student use, which used to be part of the budget allocation from the state. The "tuition" partially is related to increased administration costs, and partially due to the fact that budget allocations have been frozen for 10+ years but they still have to give professors a COL increase if nothing else.

TL;DR: state budgets have been static for a decade or more while more students are trying to attend. If they want to have classrooms and facilities for these students, and they can't get more money from the states, then they need to raise tuition or hit up donors to build them.

[prostoalex]

> Sports have little to do with it as most of that money is completely separate from the operating budgets of the Public Universities.

The taxpayers still cover the cost of stadium and other facilities at state schools, usually via bond issues.

[munin]

Most sports programs (>80%) are subsidized by the university through mandatory fees charged to the students.