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Colleges Increasingly Relying On Private Plane Use For Fundraising, Athlete Recruiting

Private planes are becoming "increasingly common at U.S. colleges and universities as schools try to attract athletes, raise money and reward coaches with jet-set vacations," according to Collin Binkley of the AP. Documents show that at least 20 institutions "own or share ownership of planes for school business, often employing a few full-time pilots to fly them." Many others "charter private flights through outside companies." At Ohio State, which "leases one plane and partly owns another, football coach Urban Meyer and members of his family took 11 personal trips last school year, including a vacation in Florida, a weekend getaway to Cape Cod and a spring break in South Carolina." The university's cost was $120,000. Add Meyer's 15 recruiting trips in the same planes during that period, and the price tag "jumps to more than $350,000." Private flights have also "become a perk used to draw coveted coaches." At Oklahoma and Ohio State, among many others, top coaches and their families are "given yearly shares of flight hours that can be used for vacations and other personal trips." Three coaches at Ohio State "topped $220,000 in personal trips last school year," with destinations including Las Vegas and Marco Island, Fla. Ohio State Deputy AD and Chief of Staff Martin Jarmond, a '17 SBJ/SBD "Forty Under 40" winner, said, "It's where the market is now from a compensation standpoint. Coaches have families, too. They've got ballgames they need to get back for. They have important things they need to do outside of the job" (AP, 2/20).

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