OT Decline public financing of "Public Ivys"

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Michigan's already transformed into a private school w/ subsidies for local students from the public financing that it gets due to decades of declining public funds for the school - certain schools within Michigan are already 100% private (i.e. the business school)

Not sure about Virginia, but expect the UC schools to be affected - I know that they didn't take the early steps to privatize its operations that Michigan did and they're currently exploring different options to "Michiganize" their institutions.

College Football is a very profitable business, it's just that the money is going to the wrong places. People also forget that college sports are great advertising tools for a university. I know plenty of people who decided between two colleges based off of the success of their football or basketball program.

College football makes money for most D-1 schools. Most athletic departments are in the red not because of football but because they support many non-revenue sports beyond football. In fact, football is the funding source for most of the money needed to operate those non-revenue sports. Even in the situations where football itself does not make a profit directly, it can be a valuable PR tool. A successful program on the field (e.g. Boise State) raises the profile of the school in the media and often can be tied to an increase in the number of student applications. If budgets continue to be tight, it is the non-revenue sports rather than football that are the most likely to be cut.

Athletic departments have their own revenue streams (ticket sales, merchandising, donations) and work within their own budget.

I really think the more important question is: What ARE you optimistic about, J.Swift?

I don't want to abuse the line around the "no politics" rule, but I think a school that takes no government money and therefore has complete control over its curriculum is far better off. See this interesting FAQ from the Hillsdale College website: http://bit.ly/sNx70O

It's actually a pretty bright one if it makes your school rather a lot of money. I dare say many D-1 programs turn enough of a profit as an entity unto themselves to self-sustain independent of the fiscal issues many schools have as a whole. It's a terribly successful business if you can make it work really.

The broader problem is the collapse in public revenue and how to balance it with rising tuition without sacrificing the traditional mission of these schools, which is basically to provide a world-class education to the public at large. I have my own ideas on this, but they involve verboten topics here.

You want to see something depressing just look at a graph overlaying penal system spending and education spending since the "war on drugs" began.  State budgets as a whole haven't really decreased they've been re-allocated and for some reason education always gets the shaft. This isn't a political comment both parties have done the same thing but if you are somebody who is pissed about the decreased spending on public education then this should piss you off.

I also want to tread lightly around the no politics rule, but I'm kind of close to this having lived in the academy for the last 5 years of so. Even as the state's portion of funding goes down the actual budget has gone up, oftentimes faster than inflation. There seems to be a notion, at least in the humanities side, where I am, that college should be immune from market forces. It's not "austerity" in the true sense of the word that is happening, for instance, LSA research funds have nearly doubled in 10 years. It's not as if there's less money to go around.

Academics have a different notion of what education is than the common man, but the rising costs, at least on the humanities side, are given to suppliment studies in the gendered construction of the Roman Republic. I'm a historian, I find those course interesting, but I also understand that they don't draw many students and they don't help those who do take the class get a job. Those costs are passed on to students who then take out loans, which are often backed by the federal government, which is replacing the state contributions no longer coming from the state. This is why you see people paying insane amounts of money for a philosphy degree.

What's frightening is what will happen when students are no longer willing to pay 100k to get a degree in philophy, history, English, etc, which make up a huge portion of the student body.

This is from 2004/05, so there's probably something more recent out there, but if you're going to say things like, "self-sustaining" and "makes a profit," you probably should actually, you know, look at the numbers: http://www2.indystar.com/NCAA_financial_reports/. Take a look at the 57 schools that give their football programs "direct institutional support," and see what you think. Or the 108 schools that give their athletic departments "direct institutional support."



In that year, as in most, Michigan did very well. Its AD pays its way, largely because of football, and men's basketball. As I understand it, in the late nineties, things weren't so rosy (so to speak). There are a lot of imponderables. For example, do you count contributions as part of profit, since they're tax deductible, and thus government subsidized? Where do the UM police department's extra expenses for traffic control and locking up drunks figure in? And so on. Iowa, where I teach, gave its athletic department 2.1 million of general revenue that year. If memory serves, we also raised tuition somewhere between 5 and 9% and the faculty amd staff didn't get a real raise, unless they were in the union.



Finally this: if I'm teaching at a school like Michigan, a world class research and educational institution, and you're attending UM primarily because you like the football program, I don't want you in my classroom. I want students who are interested in writing (or engineering, or sociology, or law, or medicine, or music), not students who are interested in (admittedly, the best) helmets. (I exclude real athletes from this, btw. They're pursuing their vocations. Spectators are different.) There are plenty of people out there who'd pay full tuition out-of-state, and who are serious about their educations. Michigan, and any Big Ten school, can and should demand educational excellence. UM did when I was a student there, and I believe they still do. You can buy beer and tee shirts at a Target superstore.

the messenger, if not killing him. 

But then. . . who gives a crap about education, long as I've got a good football factory attached to my institution. Sure, when in doubt I'll cast aspersions on the quality of an MSU or OSU degree, but in the meantime, I'm not much different. 

Go Blue. 

This article reads like it was written by an insecure Berkeley alum who didn't get in to Stanford. 

Having said that, the way in which Berkeley's finances have fallen off a cliff over the past 5 years is truly alarming. The UC system ran itself like the flow of money from Sacramento was everlasting. Glad that Michigan did a much better job of insulating itself.

By way of comparison, I read an article about a year ago from when Mizzou was trying to hire Purdue's basketball coach, but Purdue raised his salary by $1 million to keep him. When asked why, they said that when their basketball team wins, alumni donations go up. I would imagine the same thing is true at most schools with D1 athletic programs, Michigan especially.

While I'll miss football, I'm glad we're entering the expanded OT post time of the year.

I read through or skimmed most of the threads, and have a few thoughts.

1. The more independence a school has, the better. I believe we need federal and state funding at Michigan, but to the degree we can avoid the government being over-intrusive, the better. I fiercely defend and support the fact that all kinds of course-work is being offered. While I may have little interest in feminist studies, I am thrilled that such courses are part of Michigan. As a Liberal Arts Major, I despised those who only took classes on a purely utilitarian financial basis.
2. I further defend and support the right of all kinds of student groups to meet, and love the tremendous diversity in the student body. This extends many different ways, however. When only politically correct views are acceptable, and students no longer can freely assemble because they reflect mainstream views, something has gone wrong.
3. Academe is out of touch. There is no golden spigot that will always financially support the institution. The arrogance and entitlement of many in the ivory tower is alarming. This, however, extends to many public sectors of society. That is to say, our local school district (in a suburb of Chicago) doesn't get the resentment over teacher's salaries, and a failure to slash costs. (this will and needs to affect sports.) I hesitate to comment on the Detroit area, but it seems that there are very serious financial problems and a failure to deal with this reality. Regarding academe, there simply is only so much need for doctoral degree graduates. I shudder to think of what many PhD's are doing for a living. Unless you are very well connected or a rock star, you aren't going to be a tenure track professor at a top 50 university.
4. College costs have skyrocketed far beyond the cost of inflation. In 1977, I was able to pay for my room, board, and tuition at Michigan through summer jobs and working as a student. Those days have long since passed by. My daughter is taking some gen ed classes at a local Community College her first year. In most ways, I'd rather she be at a good 4 year college, but I have to admit, it's nice that we will at least end this first year with zero debt.
5. Too many people go to college. It has become an industry which seeks to perpetuate itself, but the reality is that too many students currently in college are not what I would consider college material. Admittedly, I have an elitist attitude as a Michigan alumni. However, I think that many individuals would be better served by trade schools than by a strong liberal arts education. jmhe.