Having a discussion about athletics draining funds for academics. Does the University General Budget absorb all athetic scholarship costs or does the Athletic Dept have to cover those costs?
Who Pays For Scholarships?
- Thread starter AlBamaWagg
- Start date
It is my understanding that the Athletic Department has to budget for those and transfer the money to the school general fund. Now, it may have originally come from there...and is just an accounting maneuver, but it does have to take place. The real question is how much it costs the school in reality to have another student or two sitting in a classroom? Not as much as they claim I would bet...even with all the support staff.
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The athletic department of Alabama makes far more money for the school than it takes away from it. Anyone that thinks it is a negative on the schools academics needs to have their head examined.
Athletic scholarships are paid for from the athletic budget. The AD actually pays into the general fund from the surplus annually (has done so every year under CNS, iirc), typically $15-20 million annually - so the AD is actually helping to fund the general scholarship fund, not the other way around.
Most schools aren’t lucky enough to run at surplus with their AD. They just accept a zero sum or slight loss as a cost of marketing. We’re fortunate
Are those universal rules? The discussion is not Alabama specific. I understand that many schools operate their Athletic Depts in the red and therefore the funds would have to come from the General Fund, but who has first responsibility? Thanx.
Not sure if it's an NCAA mandated rule, but it's how every AD works that I'm familiar with. IIRC it's typically the most expensive single line item for most any AD budget.
All big-time football schools' AD's are overwhelmingly funded with PRIVATE DOLLARS. It's my understanding that only a very small percentage of AD employees' salaries are paid with university funds and this is just to satisfy legal requirements, like to qualify them for state retirement/pensions and to satisfy the requirement that they be bona fide employees of the university. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that
s how it works at those schools.
s how it works at those schools.
Not really - the huge HC's salaries are generally funded via donations / endorsements (for example, Saban's actual salary from the university is ~$350k, iirc - the rest is guaranteed by the University but is funded via donations and endorsement deals). A vast majority of cash the AD receives annually is from ticket and licensed merchandise sales, network contracts, and SEC bowl winnings.
CA seems to know more than I but I've always seen it like a "soft money" (grant/contract) employees at a university. They're university employees but their payroll line item is dependent on outside funding. This is not uncommon in the academic context to be quite honest.
I had forgotten about those other sources of revenue that you mentioned. I guess you could also include revenue from the 'kick-off' classic opener games we've played in Atlanta and Dallas. I think we got $7million to go out to jerry world last season to play USC.
When UAB shut down their football program, they cited the financial losses associated with Blazer Football. Attendance was non existent.
(It's not great now)
People who parrot that football players should be paid need to factor in the price of the football scholarships and the general operation of a football team. Figure in the cost of travel as well.
Since the arrival of Coach Saban our football team's revenue has grown each year. Our team not only is self sustaining, it also helps pay for scholarships for other students as well. Most universities aren't fortunate enough to have a situation like UAT. They are happy if they come close to breaking even.
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Does it not depend on type of scholarship? Does it not vary depending on the type of schollie given? Just wondering, I know we have legacy ones for kids of former players, they have academic, sports etc. Do they all come from the same funding or does it have other avenues depending on type? I got no clue.
The discussion I'm having with an individual is regarding his statement that athletic scholarships are taking money from available academic scholarships. Thanks for all the information.
Athletic scholarships are paid by the AD. They pay the U of A the full cost of tuition whether it is instate or out-of state. The AD also pays the U of A for dorm rooms and meal plans.
Yep! Some of the non-revenue sports try to have their booster clubs fund a scholarship which frees up $$$ to spend elsewhere. For example, the medalist club funds a scholarship for a gymnast. That allows the head coach to use the $30k (or whatever it is worth) allocated for that scholarship towards other things. Still limited to “X” number of scholarships, just allows them more $$ to spend elsewhere such as assistant coaches salary, nicer accommodations on the road etc.
The only legacy scholarships I am aware of are descendants of former players that played for Coach Bryant and those are funded by the Bryant family.
OH OK.... do all players kids get any other type of scholarship or any advantage?
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