According to a recent report issued by the State of Oregon’s Board of Education finance committee, the athletic departments at the University of Oregon (UO) and at Oregon State University (OSU) had financial deficits in the 2008-2009 fiscal year: OSU with a $5.9 million deficit, and the UO with a $642,000 deficit. Other state colleges…
The Reno Gazette-Journal reported on a February 3, 2010, meeting of the Nevada Board of Regents, at which scenarios were discussed in an effort to absorb a 22% cut in the state’s higher education budget. The cuts amount to $37 million this fiscal year and an additional $110 million next fiscal year. One of the…
On February 8, a district court judge in San Francisco on Monday denied the N.C.A.A.’s motion for dismissal in a class-action lawsuit headed by the former U.C.L.A. basketball star Ed O’Bannon. The ruling leaves the N.C.A.A.’s licensing contracts open to discovery. O’Bannon’s lawyers filed the antitrust suit in July, claiming that former athletes should be…
On January 27, the Indianapolis Star published a letter from University of Indianapolis President Beverly Pitts, in which she acknowledged the role of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics in helping to give Division II presidents the resolve to pass the recent “Life in the Balance” measures at the NCAA Convention. “Life in the Balance”…
On January 24, the Minnesota Daily featured an investigative report into the athletic finances at the University of Minnesota (UM), raising many issues about how athletics departments find ways to raise and spend money to remain competitive. The article considered the increasing pressures on athletics budgets from spiraling coaching salaries and the different ways that…
The Indiana Business Journal published an article about the rising concerns of the costs of college athletics, particularly as it relates to the current economic challenges in higher education. Escalating coaches’ salaries and the costs to build and maintain athletics facilities are signficant expenses which puts the economic stability of athletic departments at risk. “During…
Inside Higher Ed reported on a USA Today investigation which looked at financial data from the past four years from 99 of 120 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision institutions, and the extent that institutions were subsidizing their athletic programs. The article noted that a look at each individual school’s finances provides a more clear…
Inside Higher Ed published an article on the recent decision by NCAA Division II membership to approve new legislation which will reduce the athletic season in several sports. The “Life in the Balance” legislation will reduce the number of games that can be played or the time frame teams have for preseason scrimmages and practices.…
In the annual “State of the Association” address, NCAA Interim President Jim Isch told association members that the sustainability of athletics programs is “very much an institutional issue” and schools must use their best judgment to “find the appropriate value level of supporting athletics on campus.” Isch’s remarks were in response to the Knight Commission’s…
The January 15 New York Times reported on a speech by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to the NCAA at its annual convention in which he stated that college athletic teams which fail to graduate their players should receive stricter penalties than are currently being imposed. Secretary Duncan’s comments echoed the Knight Commission’s 2001…