Academic Students Supporting Athletics Financially

By Courtney Thomas

Mid-American Conference university students across Ohio are paying millions of dollars to fund athletics, and chances are they're not aware of it because there's no indication of those charges on the student bill.

student reporters called 12 MAC division schools and requested an annual budget for the athletic department and a line-item breakdown of student fees.

"All of that money goes into one general account. It's pretty much a black hole. What's done from there, we don't know." Jeff Bowman, Assistant Bursar at Toledo State University describing what happens to all the money students pay.

When a student takes a three-credit English course at Ohio University, the student pays $144 ($46/credit) to the athletic department. Like most all universities in the MAC the athletic department at OU is funded by student fees from the academic students. Miami comes in a close second by charging $41 per hour. Akron checks in at $32 and Kent, BGSU, Buffalo and Northern Illinois are around $20 an hour.

Students pay millions of dollars a year to pay for full ride athletic scholarships. MAC universities spend more on athletic full rides than on academic full rides.

The student bill doesn't indicate the charge

Not a single Ohio university provides a breakdown of where the general fees go, or what they are used for on the student's bill.

By having the breakdown on the bill "people would get very confused," said Dale Hinrichs,  Interim Bursar and Controller for Miami.

John Day, associate provost for Ohio University, said "It's important to provide that information, but I'm not sure if the (tuition) bill is the place that it has to go."

At Temple University, Eric Roedl, senior associate athletic director, said that the university does not know how much money the students pay to the athletic department until the end of the school year.

Ohio University does provide the breakdown of the bill online, but it is buried nine layers deep on the website.

Public university athletic departments are multimillion-dollar operations.

Eighty-one percent of Ohio University's $18 million athletic budget is paid for by student fees. Akron's $22 million athletic department is funded 78 percent by student fees. Miami, Kent and BGSU are around 65 percent covered by student fees.

Knight Commission

The Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, a foundation that strives to "ensure intercollegiate athletic programs operate within the educational mission of their colleges and universities," discovered that MAC universities spend four times more on athletes than they do on academic students.

At Kent State, zero academic full-ride scholarships are given, but the athletic department gives out about 200 depending on the year. According to the Knight Commission, spending for athletics across other universities continues to grow, but academic spending falls short.

Paying campus fees but never setting foot on campus

Online courses are a growing form of education for a university. Kent State touts distance learning on its website as "a convenient way to take coursework with much more flexibility to serve your needs. These quality degree programs offer an alternative to campus based programs."

At Kent, distance learning students who never set foot on campus pay the same fees. Off-campus students still pay $24 a credit hour to the athletic department even though they may live in another state and never attend a Kent football game.

Of the 12 MAC division schools, half charge distance learning students the same fees as on-campus students.

Quiet universities

Kent State's Vice President of Finance Gregg Floyd did not respond to several interview requests.

Northern Illinois was "really not concerned with being left out of (this) project," and Donna Turner, associate athletic director for communications, refused to set up an interview with Director of Athletics Jeff Compher.

Temple University's Director of Communications Eryn Jelesiewicz said the interview was "just something we are going to pass on."

To read Courtney's story on her computer-assisted reporting class project website, complete with audio clips of interviews, click here. Read the PatchU of stories from journalism students at Kent State University.