4 ms·

Athletic programs can make serious money for a school

fragmede 3y ago
Serious, directly measurable money for the school. If I graduate with a degree and that degree gets me a career that goes exceedingly well and I become a 10 or 100-millionaire, and donate money for a lab to the university, that's not exactly trackable to that one really good professor. Meanwhile, the coach who won the big game is well known.
- solardev 3y ago
  This is so silly. We make our educators beholden to businesspeople who run sporting arenas so we can still charge our kids tens of thousands of dollars to spend 4+ years of their life on something that has maybe a 50% chance of paying itself back over time. Meanwhile other countries just fund public education and subsidize tuition. shrug
  - Ylpertnodi 3y ago
    Sadly, several persons in non-US countries are rubbing their hands with jealousy, thinking about the US system. To some, it's a thing to be admired.
    - fragmede 3y ago
      We see that across the world; countries gutting governmental services which enriches their cronys and ultimately hurts the users of the service. The NHS, programs for addicts in Portugal, I'm sure there are others.
UweSchmidt 3y ago
Automatic comment whenever univerity athletic programs are brought up. "It makes money", with the implication "..therefore it is all good" not even spelled out. The original intent was to offer a well-rounded education that includes physical activity. Healthy body healthy mind. Nerds who are also in shape. This concept is lost by creating a pro athlete caste within a school, students more respected for their success on the field than in the classroom. Maybe sports is truly subsidizing academics, but then again if 280 Million are spent on this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQIGwxsVv1E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQIGwxsVv1E, is there enough institutional focus on academics? Ok correct me if I'm ignorant on this topic but give me more than that oneliner that I've read a couple times before.
manicennui 3y ago
Why does this matter if most of the money is going to the sports program and tuition remains unaffordable?

Serious, directly measurable money for the school. If I graduate with a degree and that degree gets me a career that goes exceedingly well and I become a 10 or 100-millionaire, and donate money for a lab to the university, that's not exactly trackable to that one really good professor. Meanwhile, the coach who won the big game is well known.

solardev 3y ago
This is so silly. We make our educators beholden to businesspeople who run sporting arenas so we can still charge our kids tens of thousands of dollars to spend 4+ years of their life on something that has maybe a 50% chance of paying itself back over time. Meanwhile other countries just fund public education and subsidize tuition. shrug
- Ylpertnodi 3y ago
  Sadly, several persons in non-US countries are rubbing their hands with jealousy, thinking about the US system. To some, it's a thing to be admired.
  - fragmede 3y ago
    We see that across the world; countries gutting governmental services which enriches their cronys and ultimately hurts the users of the service. The NHS, programs for addicts in Portugal, I'm sure there are others.

UweSchmidt 3y ago

Automatic comment whenever univerity athletic programs are brought up. "It makes money", with the implication "..therefore it is all good" not even spelled out. The original intent was to offer a well-rounded education that includes physical activity. Healthy body healthy mind. Nerds who are also in shape. This concept is lost by creating a pro athlete caste within a school, students more respected for their success on the field than in the classroom. Maybe sports is truly subsidizing academics, but then again if 280 Million are spent on this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQIGwxsVv1E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQIGwxsVv1E, is there enough institutional focus on academics? Ok correct me if I'm ignorant on this topic but give me more than that oneliner that I've read a couple times before.

manicennui 3y ago

Why does this matter if most of the money is going to the sports program and tuition remains unaffordable?