Come on Mike, you're starting to sound like Fox "news."  This was not a university survey.  As for surveys, how many of us get them daily and simply hit delete.  Who knows what the subject line was and how many got the spam treatment.  The bottom line is that many students at OU have no idea what they pay per quarter for anything.  Mom and dad pay the bill and that's that.  My wife were guilty of that as I'm sure many posters and lurkers on that board are.  That said, had I been a full paying parent at OU and had I known that $3000 of my money had been spent to subsidize athletics, I would have pitched a fit and probably led a parent revolt - and that comes from a season ticket holder in three sports, a Bobcat Club member and Green and White Club member.

LOL. Who's the slanted news, here? I know from work on a Master's Degree in data collection--and actually any yahoo, really, knows this-- that voluntary surveys are one of the least reliable and most heavily biased ways to sample a population that there is. It's just one step up from asking your frat brothers what clothes they wear and then deducing that 9 of 10 students prefer J Crew. Anyone in the program would have gotten an F for this work, and for the "authors" to pass this off as a serious "study" is laughable, and frankly, embarrassing.

The amount of money spent on athletics is a serious discussion, and probably could use a serious random sampling. This sham is not that, however.

And yeah, that's a good idea to have parents decide what the money gets spent on. ;)

Today's Post, letter citing flaws in survey:

http://thepost.ohiou.edu/main.asp?SectionID=4&SubSectionID=6&ArticleID=33543

Are we able to raise tuition at this juncture? I was under the impression it had been frozen, and the state was allowing only a certain percentage increase (i.e. not enough to offset a significant drop in the general fee to hold total cost constant).

It's a shame that the way the NCAA is currently set up with the BCS cartel has folks who love Ohio University both for its athletics and its academic programs pitted against each other.  I'm not taking a side in this argument.  I take great pride in our successes in football, basketball, volleyball etc.  On the other hand, I would never want to see us turn into Ohio State where 99% of the general public know us only for the success of our football program. 

I think a big point of the original A-News article which has been overlooked, is that currently the NCAA is pretty much a winner take all proposition.  I would never want to have the athletic budgets of OSU, Texas, Florida etc.  However I don't see any reason why accepting a bid to a bowl game should be a money losing endeavor.

Thanks.  So, last year (09-10), I know we raised tuition by the max amount allowable between Fall and Winter quarters, and now this year (10-11), it increased 3.5% again.

The way I read this, between this year and next year, there is no freeze or limit, correct?

It does seem relevant to mention that since Fall '09, while tuition has increased $576 a year (assuming three quarters of classes), the general fee has held steady at $1,539.

With 19,126 students enrolled full-time in Athens, that amounts to just north of $11 million of "new" money from tuition each year versus two years ago.  I doubt that fills the state's hole, but I'm unsure how much it was/is/will be.  This would also fail to factor in increasing enrollment, which would pad both budgetary items, but also strain the resources which they provide (campus services/activities from the general fee, instruction and other functions from the tuition).

I'm of the opinion that the general fee pays for a lot of things for students, and is what makes a residential campus a residential campus.  If you're looking to save all the cash you can and just do bare-bones classes, the regional campus general fee is just $66/year.  This could have a lot to do with the recent sharp rise in community college enrollment nationally (though it always increases some with economic downturns).

Frankly, I think affordable, effective education (K-University) needs to be a much higher priority at both the national and state levels.  Educating the youth is the absolute best way to grow the economy, create opportunities for people, etc., in my eyes.

I'll also throw in my millionth argument for an NCAA-sanctioned playoff.  They collect TV rights money, just like the basketball tournament and any other postseason tournament they run, and it is disbursed to participating schools.  NCAA covers travel for the entire party, as well.  No team should be penalized for high performance on the field of play.  A playoff would eliminate that growing issue, remove the "bloat" of the bowl season, and determine a true, undisputed national champion.  No team ought to never lose on the field of play, yet never be allowed to play for the trophy.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that Alan's points on more efficient use of faculty for teaching classes seems to be spot on, to me.  Especially the "transitioning" bit.  I could've used a quarter of not taking any classes to "transition" to living on my own for the first time...

Very interesting, and a piece I can actually agree with Vedder on (probably a good thing, since I'll be working on a show with him as a panelist in the very near future)

Something to know  about Richard Vedder.  His ultimate end goals for public higher education are quite radical.  In his perfect world, there would be no public universities, no federal financial aid and no state or federal support for higher education.  There would be private colleges for the wealthy and connected and either for-profit operations (DeVry/ Phoenix) or "in-house" training academies run by corporations for everyone else.

To these ends, he's adapted a PETA like strategy.  Focus on peripheral issues (student subsidies for college athletics/dogfighting) to gain legitimacy for yourself and organization and push the debate towards those end goals (abolishing student aid/banning all meat, leather, wool etc) that a vast majority would reflexively oppose.