“Colorado students pay a mandatory ‘athletic fee’…to help fund sports. They can pay $200 more if they want tickets to games. In 2023, Colorado had a $136 million athletic budget and lost nearly $10 million. Most major universities subsidize athletics, not the other way around.” [gift link]
The question isn’t new. But seismic changes to college sports, embraced by Coach Deion Sanders and his University of Colorado Buffaloes, have made it more relevant than ever.
The only reason I ever started going to the gym when I went to college (at a different place) was because I had to pay a mandatory athletic fee, so I figured I should use it. 20 years later I'm happy I started the habit.
“‘I teach in this brand-new building, and I needed some extra desks because I had more students than desks,’ [Prof. Jamie Skerski] said. ‘It took three weeks to get them. But there were Coach Prime sweatshirts in the bookstore within 48 hours of his hiring. It’s kind of reflective of our values.’”
It's the tail wagging the dog.
Say what you will about the Australian university sector, but at least we don’t have to deal with this insanity.
Florida State started doing that when Deion was still playing college ball there.
I thought the athletic fee was for the gym and intramural sports? We also paid a health fee for the student health center. I used both. I also paid a transit fee and used buses heavily