As entertaining as college football is, the truth is it’s a multimillion-dollar business.
In some high-profile programs, coaches make seven-figure salaries rivaled only by university administrators at the nation’s most elite schools. All the money flowing to officials at the top has to come from somewhere, and often, it starts with the students.
In addition to increased tuition, many universities charge student fees to help cover the rising costs, not just because administrative positions are paying more, but also because there are more of them. The number of non-faculty administrative positions increased by 60 percent between 1993 and 2009.
Planning for college, and the costs that come with it, may be comparable to what you go through in the early stages of planning for retirement. There’s no definitive way to tell if the plans you make 10 to 20 years in advance will align with how life really plays out. As your financial professional, we’re here to help you create a retirement income strategy that you can feel confident about.
[CLICK HERE to read the article, “The Real Reason College Tuition Costs So Much,” from The New York Times, April 4, 2015.]
[CLICK HERE to read the article, “Sports At Any Cost,” from The Huffington Post, Nov. 15, 2015.]
If you’ve had a child go away to college, you know what a nail-biter the experience can be, both emotionally and financially.
Fans of Alabama and Clemson had some nerve-wracking experiences of their own in January when the two schools played in a national championship game that went down to the wire. Nick Saban — one of the aforementioned multimillion-dollar coaches — made some gutsy calls, including a late onside kick, to help Alabama win its fourth title since 2009.
[CLICK HERE to read the article, “Clemson lost College Football Playoff championship, but won offseason spotlight,” from The Washington Post, Jan. 12, 2016.]
Make-or-break moments like these may heighten the enjoyment of college athletics, but when it comes to sending your own child away to college, it’s preferable to make well-thought-out choices. From that standpoint, choosing the right school should be based more on cost and academic curriculum than strength of the football program.
Even if your child is going to school to play a sport, and is fortunate enough to receive a full-ride scholarship, it’s important to keep in mind the career they enter after graduation is the one that will fund their future.
College athletes, even the football players who play for the highly paid coaches, don’t receive any money for their performance. While only 1.6 percent of college football players make it to the NFL, thousands more will experience long-term health issues from the aches and pains and concussions suffered during their college football days. The level of education they receive at those institutions often is called into question as well.
[CLICK HERE to read the article, “Clemson vs. Alabama 2016: Both Teams Will Lose,” from Forbes, Jan. 9, 2016.]
Many academically focused college students today have had a hard time finding jobs after graduation, yet are saddled with student debt loans. Meanwhile, as the cost of attending college has dramatically increased over the past three decades, the trajectory of pay for college football coaches has been even more startling — up 75 percent since 2007.
When compared to the public sector, football coaches are the highest-paid employees in every state and earn significantly more than CEOs of private companies with similar annual revenues.
[CLICK HERE to read the article, “College Football Coaches: The Ultimate 1 Percent,” from Washington Monthly, January/February 2015.]
[CLICK HERE to read the article, “How College Football Coaches Became Multi-Million-Dollar Money Pits,” from Time, Aug. 25. 2015.]
Perhaps one day, some of those high-net college football programs can use their lucrative proceeds to help offset tuition and expenses for the rest of the student body.
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