Ohio has always done higher education on the cheap. Heck, they never appropriated one dollar for their first and finest until the later part of the 19th Century. Prior to that they expected the land grant from the Confederation Congress and the tuition to pay the bills. In other words, there is a very long history of low-ball funding formulas in the State of Ohio.

Well said, DA!

Yes, and the non-land grant tax ("fee") funding only came about because a state rep from Athens by the last name of Sleeper (not making that up) authored the funding bill, which was known as the "Sleeper Bill." If I recall, Sleeper was the speaker of the House.

That's one of the more fair articles I've seen on the subject. I noted this important quote:

"Most of the subsidies don't pay for football; they pay for sports such as baseball, field hockey and soccer that produce little revenue."

Using ODU as an example, football has expenses of $7m, but generates $6.8m in revenue. Other sports cost much less, but generate much less. I suppose football at Ohio loses more than that, but it is nevertheless true that the bulk of the student fees go to cover sports like baseball, field hockey, swimming, soccer, etc. On the other hand, I would bet that most students who are asked about the fee for athletics, if asked about where it goes, would guess that it goes for football.