The average pay of major college football coaches now stands at more than $1 million a year. Some of the highest-paid coaches—including Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops, Alabama’s Nick Saban, Florida’s Urban Meyer, and Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz—make in excess of $3 million annually, including endorsement contracts. Even members of coaching staffs do well. Offensive and defensive coordinators for top teams make about $200,000 each year.
Meanwhile, professors’ pay is in a different league. The average yearly salary for an engineering professor is $107,134 (instructors earn about $55,000), and the average math professor earns $81,818.
Jennifer Kearns of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) defends coaches’ high pay. She says that, unlike professors who have the protection of tenure, “coaches can be dismissed for lackluster records or the inappropriate behavior of 18- to 22-year-olds.” Kearns adds that coaches’ salaries are set by the marketplace and by “economic forces at each school.” Athletic budgets at some universities can top $50 million.
But a recent report by the NCAA suggests that college sports are, in fact, money-losing propositions. Among the 119 schools with top Division I football teams, only 19 had athletic departments that generated a profit in 2006.
As college tuition and fees continue to rise, critics contend that many schools’ athletic programs have gotten out of hand. Anne Neal, president of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, says, “Some colleges seem more focused on beer and spectacle than on teaching and learning. The public, students, and tuition payers have a right to know how their money is being spent.” Tell us what you think: Are college coaches overpaid?
The Final Four is upon us, and with it the fiction that National Collegiate Athletic Association men’s basketball is an amateur competition. The NCAA has a vested interest in this fiction, because the bulk of its annual $1.14 billion in revenue comes from its March Madness tournament. Critics fall into two broad camps. The first […]
The late winter ritual of filling in the NCAA March Madness Bracket is nearly upon us. The risk-takers will bet on the success of student athletes, and loyal alumni will cheer their teams on, hoping to make it to the last dance, the NCAA Championship Final. But for those concerned about college costs and educational […]
It is no secret that the price of a bachelor’s degree has been rapidly rising, creating great strain for college students and their families. According to the Trends in College Pricing 2015 report published by the College Board, the price of tuition has increased 40% between 2005 and 2015, even after adjusting for inflation. Between […]
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