Who foots the bill when college athletics can’t pay for themselves?
The answer, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), is a mix of students—who heavily subsidize programs with athletic fees—and the academic enterprise itself. Virtually all programs rely on funding from outside athletics to cover costs, the report noted.
Released Wednesday at the request of Education and Workforce Committee Chairman, Tim Walberg, the GAO report found that college athletic programs are, for the most part, not self-sustaining. Altogether, 330 of 352 Division I programs—or 94 percent—lost money in the 2023–24 academic year.
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