UConn students' tuition costs will include fees for sporting events whether they attend games or notGETTY IMAGES
UConn students attending sporting events next year "won’t have to purchase tickets," but thanks to rising student fees, admission "will still cost them," according to Alex Putterman of the HARTFORD COURANT. During FY '19, the UConn's athletic department will receive more than $8.9M in student fees, up slightly from FY '18. That means that students are "paying significantly for sporting events, whether or not they actually attend any games." UConn CFO Scott Jordan said that the athletic department "uses student fees to cover two main categories of expenses." First, they cover the access to athletic-department facilities for the "broader student body." Second, they cover "discounts for student tickets." They also "help UConn’s athletic department close a budget deficit" that measured $41M in FY '18. Jordan said that the amount of student fees UConn directs toward athletics has "remained largely flat in recent years, even as the athletic department’s financial situation has worsened." He added that because student fees fund specific programs, they "do not typically rise and fall based on a department’s bottom line" (COURANT.com, 5/22).
