Much of it is related to two issues:
Bonding for football stadium expansion that didn't pay off
Reduced student fees from lower enrollment because of greatly increased Illinois tuition
Forgot the link:
dailyegyptian.com/79417/sports/siu-athletics-running-on-cumulative-deficit-of-26-million/
Football stadium expansion was stupid. What were they chasing.
They had to borrow $30 million from SIU-Edwardsville recently.
Iconic nickname/mascot though.
A decade ago, SIU was a pretty big name. Had they kept the momentum with their basketball program, they very well could have upgraded to the MAC or Sun Belt.
The whole state's university system is in a funding crunch, it's just that someone like U of I can absorb the hit as the flagship and academic elite while NIU on other hand can draw from Chicago to keep enrollment up. SIU/EIU/WIU can't really do that, and they're left with a geographic location in an economically depressed part of the country - SIU in particular has probably been cannibalized by Edwardsville for students they used to draw from St. Louis.
It is a nice stadium though.
(02-22-2018 03:08 AM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote: [ -> ]Football stadium expansion was stupid. What were they chasing.
FBS. Look at the capacity level and areas for possible expansion.
Everyone was doing a feasibility study then. And those with the infrastructure for FBS were well ahead of the rest.
And as I noted, they had been building a reputation in other sports.
Their administration threw ice cold water on moving up during expansion. Said that their area was declining and wouldn't be able to support FBS in the future.
I thought that statement was a little too much info.
Its too bad because they would be a great home-home for my school and we have some history with them. Great mascot too.
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(02-22-2018 03:08 AM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote: [ -> ]Football stadium expansion was stupid. What were they chasing.
The old stadium was a dump. They needed a new facility bad.
Illinois is all kinds of messed up. It's cheaper for Illinois students to go to Missouri State and pay out of state tuition than it is for them to go Illinois State, SIU, WIU, etc.
I'm not sure what the article means when it says SIU has a "cumulative deficit" of $26 million. Their total athletic spending is $27 million a year. I have to assume the $26 million figure is the total of some unspecified number of years. How is that meaningful?
All they need to do is start scheduling 3 Big Ten teams a year to get money games. Then have their basketball team do the same and play 8 money games a year as well. That should be able to at least bring in $4 million a year.
Southern Illinois is not exactly a hot bed of growth. Carbondale is down 1,000 in population since 1990, Cairo down over 2,000 in the same span, Centrallia down 1200.
Student enrollment at SIU is the lowest since 1965.
Going FBS wouldn't have likely done anything to help their circumstances.
They have some control over SIU-E, they should have tried to pull an Alabama Board of Trustees/UAB. Not that it really matters when you're one of like 15 directional schools fighting with UIUC for status in a declining state sans Chicago.
(02-22-2018 11:37 AM)arkstfan Wrote: [ -> ]Southern Illinois is not exactly a hot bed of growth. Carbondale is down 1,000 in population since 1990, Cairo down over 2,000 in the same span, Centrallia down 1200.
Student enrollment at SIU is the lowest since 1965.
Going FBS wouldn't have likely done anything to help their circumstances.
Agree, but I don't know that I would have been that honest about why I wasn't pursuing it.
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(02-22-2018 08:21 AM)Love and Honor Wrote: [ -> ]The whole state's university system is in a funding crunch, it's just that someone like U of I can absorb the hit as the flagship and academic elite while NIU on other hand can draw from Chicago to keep enrollment up. SIU/EIU/WIU can't really do that, and they're left with a geographic location in an economically depressed part of the country - SIU in particular has probably been cannibalized by Edwardsville for students they used to draw from St. Louis.
Illinois State has done well. People I know who work there say that there hasn't been any cutbacks. And they're not cutting into the endowment to stay afloat either - the endowment has gone up 30% in the last 5 years.
ISU's advantage (according to them) is that the university is "exceptionally well-run." That's very different than most universities nationwide.
(02-22-2018 11:02 AM)MissouriStateBears Wrote: [ -> ]Illinois is all kinds of messed up. It's cheaper for Illinois students to go to Missouri State and pay out of state tuition than it is for them to go Illinois State, SIU, WIU, etc.
Holy cow, that's actually pretty close to true. MSU is $14,706 for out-of-state. ISU is $14,061 for in-state, SIU is 13,946 for in-state, WUI is $12,889 for in-state.
(02-22-2018 11:37 AM)arkstfan Wrote: [ -> ]Southern Illinois is not exactly a hot bed of growth. Carbondale is down 1,000 in population since 1990, Cairo down over 2,000 in the same span, Centrallia down 1200.
Student enrollment at SIU is the lowest since 1965.
Going FBS wouldn't have likely done anything to help their circumstances.
Cairo is my favorite ghosttown to visit. The way people talk there you’d think it was Arkansas.
(02-22-2018 12:18 PM)Captain Bearcat Wrote: [ -> ] (02-22-2018 11:02 AM)MissouriStateBears Wrote: [ -> ]Illinois is all kinds of messed up. It's cheaper for Illinois students to go to Missouri State and pay out of state tuition than it is for them to go Illinois State, SIU, WIU, etc.
Holy cow, that's actually pretty close to true. MSU is $14,706 for out-of-state. ISU is $14,061 for in-state, SIU is 13,946 for in-state, WUI is $12,889 for in-state.
Crazy isn't it. That's why Missouri State has pushed hard recruiting efforts in Metro East area of St. Louis.