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(04-14-2020 07:48 AM)BearcatMan Wrote:  I'd be more worried about how Universities can survive the types of cuts being discussed at the State level (up to potentially 20% in operating budgets), especially when paired with the potential for there still being remote-only learning in the fall. It'll be exceptionally hard for Universities to justify student fees for athletics to the tune that they've done so recently if athletics are not being played, students are not on campus, or budgets are being reduced they way that they are.

Look at my current employer for instance...a 20% cut of operating expenses for FY 21 would equate to $150,000,000. How can they justify dragging $20,000,000 from their operating budget to support Athletics when they don't serve the core function of the "company" as a whole anymore. Many institutions will be on life support or the plug will be pulled completely after this...it's going to be an absolute bloodbath.

Say hello to The Ohio State University at Cincinnati, The Ohio State University at Oxford, The Ohio State University at Athens.......

I kid!

I think OSU (they maintain a billion dollar operating surplus and can start going into the 50% of applicants they reject if they need to keep the dorms full), UC (second highest endowment, fundraising and research budget in the state system) and Miami (provided they can keep all those kids from the Chicago suburbs paying 35K/year in tuition otherwise all bets are off for them) will be fine. Some belt tightening, but no real pain. Everyone else in the system is in real jeopardy, and I think you might see some radical restructuring that was politically impossible before this such as Akron being folded into KSU.

Dewine seems like he's a friend to higher education. Thank God, Voinovich still isn't in Columbus because he'd shut the whole system down.

Athletic subsidies were a bubbling issue before this, and I wouldn't be surprised if Ohio were to enact a law similar to Virginia's which limits what percent of the athletic budget can come from student fees or the academic side.