Where do college athlete's scholarships come from?

by David Safier

Here's another question born of ignorance. When college athletes are given scholarships, where does the money come from?

A column by John Harris in the Pittsburgh Trib-Review questions the free education given to college athletes. Harris comments:

A basketball player attending Pitt is eligible for an education worth more than $100,000.

Except in rare instances,athletic scholarships aren't given for . . . well, scholarship. They're recognition of the hours these folks spent in the gym or on the playing field and the athletic skills they've demonstrated.

I hear over and over again how college sports programs pay their own ways,that they don't cost colleges and universities dollars that could go toward academics. I've always been suspicious of the accounting here -- whether it covers all the external costs of facilities, training areas, etc. Do sports that make a profit cover the expenses of those that don't? Do schools with consistently lousy teams recoup the costs?

But this is another issue. Where do sports scholarships come from? Is it from money contributed to the sports programs? Do they come from profits the sports programs make? Does some of the cash come from the general scholarship pot, taking money away from students whose academic achievement makes them more deserving than someone who,say, can bounce a round ball skillfully and toss it through a small hoop consistently?

Maybe I should have waited until after UA is out of the tournament before I asked this. Sports fans are a dangerous, unpredictable lot. I'll just have to take my chances.

Comments

[Stephen Morris]

"Villanova and Duke (both at 89 percent) graduate the highest percentage of basketball players. North Carolina (86 percent) and Xavier (82 percent) round out the academic Final Four."

Xavier is my hometown favorite team. I went to cheer them on at their sweet 16 & elite 8 games at US Airways center last year.

I'd wager that most of the scholarship money comes from the billions of dollars NCAA gets from their division 1 programs. The rest are probably alumni funded scholarships.

I think school athletics are more valuable than you give it credit for.

[Mariana]

I've been trying to comment on your previous posts for about a week,n ever had enough time; you guys are very prolific. But this is an easy one: I don't care where the money come from, athletic scholarships are WRONG unless the recipient majors in PE.

[AZW88]

Mariana, Morris K. Udall played basketball for the UofA, even played pro ball, should he have been forced to major in PE just because he received an athletic scholarship? You give athletes even less credit than most hard-core sports haters I know.

I've known lawyers, doctors, business executives et al that went to college on some sort of athletic scholarship. They did something beyond sports, it was their means of paying for college. You would b surprised to find how many people went to college on athletic scholarships and pursued careers in medicine, law, politics, etc. Like the commercial says, most 'go pro in something OTHER than athletics'

The University of Arizona athletic department is self sufficient, including all coaches salaries for ALL sports. (Football and Men's basketball bring in a vast majority of the $$, TV contracts, conference revenue sharing, licensing, boosters, and fundraisers.) The PAC-10, and thus Arizona, will benefit from AZ's deep tourney run.

The Universities do benefit from having sports programs, even if they aren't super successful. (even in AZ football's lean years, millions of $$ flowed in)

Many athletes (but not enough) give big bucks back to the school, not just athletic programs. Steve Kerr and Jim Furyk come to mind immediately.

[Mariana]

AZ88,

I've known lawyers, doctors etc too, but they would have made it anyway, maybe with the help of an academic scolarship. They are not the majority.
As for the commercial, it must be a reason why they air it. It reminds me of the BP commercials ; few know that is part of a settlement after been sued for destroying the environment.

Let me explain why I think the whole idea is wrong.
1-In team sports like football 20-30 kids spend the same amount of time and effort and only one, maybe two get a scholarship; obviously the best football player, not the best in academics. How is this fair to the streight A football player who is not THE star ?
2- In individual sports like tennis or track, parents spend tons of money to take their kids to competitions, send them to camps, etc with the hope of getting a scolarship. How is this fair to the kids whose parents don't have time and money?
3- Athletic scholarships are not available for all sports.
4- Athletic scholarships are given to foreign students.
5- Some kids- as much as they'd love to play sports- have to work in order to survive or to help their families survive.
6- well... I have to go to work now. I think we had the same argument a while ago

[Jim]

What difference does it make? Some of you sit there with your liberal "it's not fair" attitude. I suppose you like the large government to take care of everyone. News flash; Universities are part of the government program. They have bureaucrats and politicians running the schools. If you like the government doling out billions of dollars to fat cat Wall Streeters and Democrat supporters such as ACORN, then you should be willing to go along with whatever the University President and Athletics Directors say, after all, it’s for the children.
For those of us that understand that life and athletics are not fair. The good rise up (in sports and in life) and one torn ACL can ruin any promising career, in the NCAA and the City League Softball team. People in this country are, for now, free to choose. If one chooses to have their child participate in sports camps and another chooses to have their child read the dictionary and participates in spelling bees, that is what makes America great. Either way, what difference does it make where the money comes from? As long as it gets to the schools and supports the overall education system, it doesn’t matter. We are all individuals, with individual strengths and weaknesses, our differences make life fun. Think how boring life would be, if we were all the same.
I am a nerd that went to school on academics, sports made my college experience exciting. Without football, basketball, volleyball, lacrosse, track and field to keep us entertained, we definitely would have sat on the couch and got stoned. College is stressful and the release even through the efforts of others keeps us sane.

[Stephen Morris]

I had a friend who carried a straight A average, but the only scholarships she qualified for were for volleyball & basketball. The scholarships did not cover anywhere near the full cost of tuition, but it helped.