GT Athletics Budget

[Root4GT]

Students aren’t on campus to finance athletic programs though. They’re on campus to further their education. Sports are supposed to be a fun escape, not some industry they’re responsible for funding. A couple hundred bucks is a lot of money for a college kid, especially in this economy. I think you’d find out pretty quick how displeased the student body would be over raised athletic fees.

Raise the amount slowly about !10 per year! Over a few years it will mount up!

 

[Wrecked]

What does everyone say around here? That's the cost of doing business and we have to do these things in order to compete? Not sure an extra $200 per year that is likely part of a student loan or scholarship would put students off from sports. But, maybe.

Or we could just charge alumni a $50,000 athletic fee at graduation, regardless if you support the AA or not. If you don’t pay, no diploma.

 

[iceeater1969]

The students are required to pay athletic fee.

Simple
All employees , profs, pay athletic fee sliding scale.
Get tickets at discount

 

[stinger78]

"Distribution of funds from the ACC has been key. The league paid out nearly $42 million to Tech is 2023, whereas Tech now is expected to receive $48 million from the conference in 2025."

This is an important point to counter the kooks. For some reason the kooks seem to think that the ACC's payouts are basically fixed with no increases, but in actuality payouts to the conference and its members increase every year.

Thank you!

 

[stinger78]

The ACC is basically a savings account at your local bank while the B1G and SEC are competitive high yield savings accounts. Choose for yourself where you want your money.

 

[GT33]

Students aren’t on campus to finance athletic programs though. They’re on campus to further their education. Sports are supposed to be a fun escape, not some industry they’re responsible for funding. A couple hundred bucks is a lot of money for a college kid, especially in this economy. I think you’d find out pretty quick how displeased the student body would be over raised athletic fees.

Some of us didn’t use the damn library but paid for it anyway. Do I get a rebate for all the classes I skipped? Others were getting more Prof attention.

Life isn’t fair. We’re a high demand Institute. Parents will pay a lot more to get their kids in GT and wouldn’t blink paying $3k/yr more if their kid could be a legacy. Simple supply and demand equation here.

 

[forensicbuzz]

Students aren’t on campus to finance athletic programs though. They’re on campus to further their education. Sports are supposed to be a fun escape, not some industry they’re responsible for funding. A couple hundred bucks is a lot of money for a college kid, especially in this economy. I think you’d find out pretty quick how displeased the student body would be over raised athletic fees.

There has always been an athletic fee for students. It's not much and it covers access to all varsity events and other athletic events. In my day, it also included covering intermural sports, ORGT, and SAC.

 

[JacketOff]

Some of us didn’t use the damn library but paid for it anyway. Do I get a rebate for all the classes I skipped? Others were getting more Prof attention.

Life isn’t fair. We’re a high demand Institute. Parents will pay a lot more to get their kids in GT and wouldn’t blink paying $3k/yr more if their kid could be a legacy. Simple supply and demand equation here.

There has always been an athletic fee for students. It's not much and it covers access to all varsity events and other athletic events. In my day, it also included covering intermural sports, ORGT, and SAC.

Guys, I know there’s always been an athletic fee. Thats not what I’m saying. I’m saying that raising the athletic fee by a large percentage quickly is an easy way to piss off a lot of students. A lot of students that might potentially become fans of GT athletics and therefore donate to GTAA after they graduate.

No offense, but I can tell it’s been a while since a lot of the folks suggesting raising the fee have been in college. You’ve forgotten how volatile an 18-22 year old’s minds are. College kids love to go against “the man.” Sure there are some legacy families that would pay damn near whatever for their kids to go to Tech, but those families and their kids are likely already GT sports fans and a lot of them probably already give in some way to GTAA. But legacies don’t make up the bulk of GT’s undergrad population. I would also guess that the majority of our undergrad population did not grow up GT sports fans, and a fairly large percentage of them are not sports fans at all. Relying on those kids and their families to bankroll GT sports is not a winning strategy. I believe you’re much better off long-term making athletics cheap and easy to get into, and you certainly shouldn’t stir up controversy by charging students outrageous fees in order to cover athletics expenses.

There’s more student support for our athletic programs right now than there has been in a long time. When I was at Tech at the end of Paul’s era, the student section in the north end zone had hundreds if not thousands of empty space. The last game at BDS had the lower north filled, the south end zone mostly filled, and even some overflow in the upper north. Now that we have some momentum with the student body, the last thing you want to do is potentially lose a lot of them.

 

[forensicbuzz]

Guys, I know there’s always been an athletic fee. Thats not what I’m saying. I’m saying that raising the athletic fee by a large percentage quickly is an easy way to piss off a lot of students. A lot of students that might potentially become fans of GT athletics and therefore donate to GTAA after they graduate.

No offense, but I can tell it’s been a while since a lot of the folks suggesting raising the fee have been in college. You’ve forgotten how volatile an 18-22 year old’s minds are. College kids love to go against “the man.” Sure there are some legacy families that would pay damn near whatever for their kids to go to Tech, but those families and their kids are likely already GT sports fans and a lot of them probably already give in some way to GTAA. But legacies don’t make up the bulk of GT’s undergrad population. I would also guess that the majority of our undergrad population did not grow up GT sports fans, and a fairly large percentage of them are not sports fans at all. Relying on those kids and their families to bankroll GT sports is not a winning strategy. I believe you’re much better off long-term making athletics cheap and easy to get into, and you certainly shouldn’t stir up controversy by charging students outrageous fees in order to cover athletics expenses.

There’s more student support for our athletic programs right now than there has been in a long time. When I was at Tech at the end of Paul’s era, the student section in the north end zone had hundreds if not thousands of empty space. The last game at BDS had the lower north filled, the south end zone mostly filled, and even some overflow in the upper north. Now that we have some momentum with the student body, the last thing you want to do is potentially lose a lot of them.

I understand. Most kids in college are not paying for themselves, so, really, it’s the parents that would be put off, not the student.

That being said, I’ve got 3 in college and 2 in HS, so I do understand.

We grumbled about the athletic fee back in the 80s and 90s, when I actually was paying for it myself. Most schools have an opt-in / opt-out for varsity sports access; Tech never did. I’ve never been one for charging students a ton of money to watch their team play.

That being said, HS students don’t get into their varsity sports activities for free.

 

[stinger78]

GTAA revenue was $75M in 2016. Doubled in 8 years.

https://ramblinwreck.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/1516_AnnualReport.pdf

 

[cpf2001]

I was lucky enough to have my parents paying and taking out loans in their own names so the athletic fee wouldn’t have registered for me. Though if it had doubled or tripled overnight that would’ve probably gotten some attention.

But isn’t the whole point of out of state and international students to have them pay more $$$? or is that too cynical?

 

[stinger78]

I worked and paid my own way through college quarter by quarter. It was less than about $300/quarter, but I only made $3/hour, too. So 100 hours of work/quarter did it. The cost of college today is criminally obscene, IMPO.

There was always a student activity fee, but it was far less than today.

 

[cpf2001]

Nobody needs their school to have a lazy river, absolutely agree the cost has overall gone nuts.

 

[forensicbuzz]

I worked and paid my own way through college quarter by quarter. It was less than about $300/quarter, but I only made $3/hour, too. So 100 hours of work/quarter did it. The cost of college today is criminally obscene, IMPO.

There was always a student activity fee, but it was far less than today.

When I was there, it was $1,776 per quarter for out-of-state students, and $8XX for instate. That seemed reasonable. Turns out, everyone wants amenities. **** amenities, make the education affordable. Students need to learn how to be poor.

 

[stinger78]

When I was there, it was $1,776 per quarter for out-of-state students, and $8XX for instate. That seemed reasonable. Turns out, everyone wants amenities. **** amenities, make the education affordable. Students need to learn how to be poor.

Say it again, bro! You don’t know how to be wealthy until you know what it’s like to be poor.

 

[GTNavyNuke]

GT Fans: "This is incredible news"
Also GT Fans: "How do I get club seats for free?"

Reminds me of American taxpayers: "We need services but how do I get someone else to pay taxes other than me?"

Here's the chart from that article. Makes me think we could do $250-$400 without too much pushback.

View attachment 17037

In addition to most of these top fee schools being small as @JacketOff said, many have large amount of scholarships or ROTC which I think paid my athletic fees. So the costs are largely transferred to another payer at these schools.

Note they are all Southern; this supports the concept that "Football is the religion of the South".

 

[GT33]

I don’t live in state. A guy I worked with (non-GT alum) asked me for 2 years how to get his kid into GT. Price was no object, it was the perfect Institute for him. Not even wait listed. 4.6 GPA, minority, #4 of a 400 kid class, talented musician, had leadership in extracurriculars. Sighs every time he sees me wearing a GT hat or shirt. He’s not alone.

He wouldn’t give 2 craps about a $2k fee. He wanted his kid at school learning with the best not at a less prestigious state factory.

 

[Thwg777]

Does HOPE cover the athletic fees? I went to GT on HOPE and took out loans to cover mostly the cost of housing. That was 20 years ago so I don’t recall if the misc fees were covered.

 

[stinger78]

I don’t live in state. A guy I worked with (non-GT alum) asked me for 2 years how to get his kid into GT. Price was no object, it was the perfect Institute for him. Not even wait listed. 4.6 GPA, minority, #4 of a 400 kid class, talented musician, had leadership in extracurriculars. Sighs every time he sees me wearing a GT hat or shirt. He’s not alone.

He wouldn’t give 2 craps about a $2k fee. He wanted his kid at school learning with the best not at a less prestigious state factory.

I had the same with a young man from AL. Perfect GPA, perfect SAT, soccer player, Eagle scout, very active in church missions. A USNA admit but flunked his physical due to knee injury playing soccer. Was admitted to GT, but only partial schollie. Mom was a widow and couldn’t afford even half the OOS tuition. GT wouldn’t spring for a full ride.

The young man went to Auburn. The injured knee brought him all the way from the USNA to Auburn. So sad. Such is the politics of university admission these days.

 

[Vespidae]

Does HOPE cover the athletic fees? I went to GT on HOPE and took out loans to cover mostly the cost of housing. That was 20 years ago so I don’t recall if the misc fees were covered.

Student activity fees are recommended by the institution and approved by the USG Board of Regents. My understanding is that because athletic facilities are open to all undergraduates, then a fee is appropriate to maintain the facilities. (So, the larger the school, the greater the investment in facilities and yes, students can be charged a fee to cover maintenance and operation costs.)

Note that purely “intercollegiate athletics” expenses are required to be funded through a separate “athletic association” with limited investment by state taxpayers.