BleedGopher
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 11, 2008
- Messages
- 63,210
- Reaction score
- 20,971
- Points
- 113
Per STrib:
University of Minnesota students will pay a new $200 athletics fee this year even if they never don a Gophers football helmet or attend a single game.
The Twin Cities campus for the first time has added a $100-per-semester fee to offset the substantial price tag for paying student athletes to play on Gophers teams. Even so, the athletics budget is $8.75 million short, though U officials said they’re hopeful they can close the gap.
The new fees are drawing ire from student government leaders and come at the same time as a significant tuition increase of 6.5% for in-state undergraduates and 7.5% increase for out-of-state undergraduates there this fall.
Riley Hetland and Ethan Fiegel, the president and vice president of the U’s Undergraduate Student Government, said in a statement that “while we acknowledge that student-athletes deserve fair compensation for the amazing work they do, Gopher Athletics already generates revenue from students through voluntary contributions in the form of tickets and merchandise sales.”
“Students should not be forced to pay an additional fee on top of this,” they said.
Mark Coyle, the U’s athletic director, said in an interview this week that the fee is not uncommon among other institutions and helps maintain athletic facilities used by the student body.
Paying student athletes the full $20.5 million will make up 12% of the U’s $174.2 million athletic budget for 2026, more than the cost of scholarships, maintaining facilities or paying down debt. The nearly $9 million shortfall is after the new student fees are accounted for; they are expected to bring in $7 million, U officials said.
www.startribune.com
Go Gophers!!
University of Minnesota students will pay a new $200 athletics fee this year even if they never don a Gophers football helmet or attend a single game.
The Twin Cities campus for the first time has added a $100-per-semester fee to offset the substantial price tag for paying student athletes to play on Gophers teams. Even so, the athletics budget is $8.75 million short, though U officials said they’re hopeful they can close the gap.
The new fees are drawing ire from student government leaders and come at the same time as a significant tuition increase of 6.5% for in-state undergraduates and 7.5% increase for out-of-state undergraduates there this fall.
Riley Hetland and Ethan Fiegel, the president and vice president of the U’s Undergraduate Student Government, said in a statement that “while we acknowledge that student-athletes deserve fair compensation for the amazing work they do, Gopher Athletics already generates revenue from students through voluntary contributions in the form of tickets and merchandise sales.”
“Students should not be forced to pay an additional fee on top of this,” they said.
Mark Coyle, the U’s athletic director, said in an interview this week that the fee is not uncommon among other institutions and helps maintain athletic facilities used by the student body.
Paying student athletes the full $20.5 million will make up 12% of the U’s $174.2 million athletic budget for 2026, more than the cost of scholarships, maintaining facilities or paying down debt. The nearly $9 million shortfall is after the new student fees are accounted for; they are expected to bring in $7 million, U officials said.
In order to stay competitve in college athletics, the U has a plan; students paying students
Despite Twin Cities campus students being charged $200 a year, the U still faces a $9 million athletic budget deficit.
www.startribune.com
Go Gophers!!
