[indiecore]

Well undergraduate programs are a thought in that they are needed to produce candidates for the graduate programs that provide value.

And from what I can see most of the budget comes from and is devoted to college football.

[jmj42]

> And from what I can see most of the budget comes from and is devoted to college football.

This couldn't be further from the truth. I'm unaware of any major universities in which sports money comes from or is applied to general budgets. Athletic departments are generally self-contained and there is very little (if any) financial overlap into the academic portions of a university. Payroll, and even scholarships, are paid from athletic income, and any left over is not put into general budget.

Personally, I wish the myth of "the cost to the university/tax payers/etc" would go away.

[maxerickson]

I bet if you broke it down you would find that most research dollars are spent at schools with highly visible sports teams that are self funding.

I believe this mostly because the big conferences have fantastic TV deals and huge research schools.