Cost spreading in college athletic spending in the United States: estimates and implications.

With rising costs, mounting student debt, and many schools experiencing financial hardship, the higher education industry faces unwanted scrutiny from the popular media and political sector. College athletics too have come under close examination because of rising costs and internal subsidies. In this paper, we provide estimates of the per-student costs of college athletic programs for US colleges and universities by the number of undergraduate students enrolled, National Collegiate Athletic Association division, and whether the institution is public or private. These estimates find significant potential for cost spreading, so that costs per-student fall as the number of students rises. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]