Academic Spending Versus Athletic Spending: Who Wins?

A recent brief from the Delta Cost Project explores athletic and academic spending at public NCAA colleges and universities between 2005 and 2010. The data indicate that Division I public institutions spend between three and six times more per athlete than per average student on campus. Further, spending on athletics has increased twice as fast as academic spending.

To examine differences among various Division I schools, the report breaks down Division I schools into three subdivisions– Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the most competitive where schools vie for a spot in bowl games; Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), where schools participate in a playoff championship); and Division I, No Football (DI-NF), schools without a football program.

Among the report’s findings:

• Each subdivision spent approximately the same amount on per full-time equivalent (FTE) student in 2010 – FBS schools spent $13,628, FCS schools spent $11,769, and DI-NF schools spent $11,861. However, they spent three to six times as much on athletics in 2010, from $91,936 at FBS institutions to $36,665 at FCS schools, and $39,201 in the DI-NF subdivision.


• In all of the six Bowl Championship Series “power conferences,” median athletic spending was more than $100,000 in 2010. The Southeastern Conference led in median athletic spending per athlete spending $163,931 in 2010. This was twelve times its median academic spending per student, $13,390.  .


• Athletic spending has increased quickly. Among FBS institutions, athletic spending per athlete rose 51% between 2005 and 2010. At FCS schools, athletic spending rose 48%, and at DI-NF schools, athletic spending rose 39% between 2005 and 2010.  . In contrast, academic spending per FTE grew less, increasing 23% at FBS schools, 22% at FCS schools, and only 11% at DI-NF schools between 2005 and 2010. .


• Despite outside funding sources, athletic programs have not become self-sufficient; student fees and institutional subsides provide between 4 and 14% of total athletic budgets. Less than a quarter of the 97 publics that make up the FBS subdivision made more money than they spent in each of years 2005 to 2010.