Arizona State student leaders are "floating the idea of a mandatory student fee that would subsidize the university’s money-losing athletic programs," according to Anne Ryman of the ARIZONA REPUBLIC. The undergraduate student governments at the school's campuses are "researching the idea and plan to hold forums to get feedback later this month." Subsidies in the form of cash and athletic scholarships totaled $10.3M, or "about 17 percent of revenue in fiscal 2012." Students paying the fee "may be able to get better seating in Sun Devil Stadium and free tickets to football and men’s basketball games." They "currently have to pay for their seats." A fee amount "hasn’t been proposed, but $150 per year for full-time students is one figure being floated." The "vast majority of colleges subsidize their athletic programs in some way." Football and men’s basketball "typically make money, but not enough to cover financial losses in other sports." ASU has "one of the most heavily subsidized athletic programs in college sports." The school "kicked in more than $80 million to help run its athletic programs" from '05-11 (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 10/10).
