1
Intercollegiate Athletics at Marshall University
April 2016
Prepared by Departments of Institutional Research and Planning, Athletics,
Finance and University Communications
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Introduction
Believing intercollegiate athletics is an important part of the college experience for all students and that some
level of institutional support is appropriate, Marshall University’s Board of Governors last year reaffirmed a set
of Institutional Priorities that included establishing and maintaining a competitive Division I athletic program
with high academic standards for student-athletes. [Source: Meeting minutes, Marshall University Board of Governors, April 29, 2015]
President Jerome A. Gilbert has made a commitment to budget transparency and to maintaining an open
dialogue with all stakeholders, and this white paper has been prepared at his direction. President Gilbert has
pledged to work with the Department of Athletics to stabilize its budget.
This document is intended to start a discussion with the campus community by: 1) establishing transparency
regarding the university’s budget for athletic programs; 2) comparing the level of institutional support for
athletic programs at Marshall with peer institutions; and 3) answering some of the most-frequently asked
questions about funding intercollegiate athletics at Marshall University.
The Bottom Line
Q. What is Marshall’s annual budget for athletics? What are the sources of funding?
A. As reported to Conference USA, Marshall’s 2015-16 budget for intercollegiate athletics totals $27.2 million.
The sources of funds include $15.4 million in self-generated revenue from private donations, marketing and
media rights, bowl game revenues, parking and concessions, ticket sales, private suite rentals and Conference
USA income. The remaining $11.8 million of the budget is institutional support, including student auxiliary fees
and tuition waivers. As show in Chart A, this compares favorably among the 14 Conference USA peer
institutions.
Chart A - Department of Athletics budget and comparison with C-USA (FY2016)
SOURCE OF FUNDS Marshall Budget
for Athletics
Conference USA
Average Budget
(14 institutions)
Marshall’s Rank in
Conference USA
(out of 14 institutions)
Self-Generated Dollars $15.4M (57%) $11.6M (43%) 3rd best/highest
Institutional Support $11.8M (43%) $15.6M (57%) 4th best/lowest
Total Athletics Budget $27.2M (100%) $27.2M (100%)
[Source: Conference USA Budget Survey FY2016]
Q. What is the university’s net investment in athletics?
A. As shown in Chart B, below, the net investment Marshall makes in intercollegiate athletics each year is
approximately $4.8 million, or $0.3 million minus the student auxiliary fees that pay for student tickets to
athletic events, etc.
2
Chart B – Marshall University’s net investment in athletics (FY2015-16)
Institutional allocation to Department of Athletics $5M
Tuition waivers for student-athletes $2.3M
Student auxiliary fees $4.5M
Total Institutional Support = $11.8M
Payments from Department of Athletics back to institution for scholarships (Chart C) ($3M)
Payments by student-athletes directly to institution for tuition, housing, board (Chart D) ($4M)
Net Investment (with student auxiliary fees*) = $4.8M
Net Investment (minus student auxiliary fees) = $0.3M
*Student tickets for athletic events, etc.
Breakdown: The Department of Athletics returns approximately $3 million/year in scholarship
payments to the university’s general coffers (Chart C). In addition, current and former student-
athletes—including walk-ons and those who have exhausted their eligibility and/or stay on for graduate
studies—directly pay the university approximately $4 million/year for tuition, room and board, exclusive
of any financial aid awarded the student (Chart D).
Chart C - Payments from Department of Athletics back to institution for scholarships (2014-15)
Tuition Housing Board Total
Athletic Funds $1,267,926 $ 92,497 $123,805 $1,484,229
Institutional Funds $ 791,365 $411,456 $307,248 $1,510,069
Total $2,059,292 $503,953 $431,053 $2,994,298
[Source: Marshall University Department of Athletics]
Chart D - Payments by current and former student-athletes directly to institution
(Fall 2014-Summer 2015)
Sport Tuition Housing Board Grand Totals
Athletic Managers $ 164,107.61 $ 62,724.40 $ 42,513.33 $ 269,345.34
Baseball 234,930.15 75,377.00 40,695.00 351,002.15
Cheerleading 243,754.64 71,963.45 41,914.00 357,632.09
Football 306,843.99 112,259.89 66,310.51 485,414.39
Former Athletes* 1,003,584.10 37,744.15 26,610.25 1,067,938.50
Men's Basketball 25,992.50 18,405.49 8,279.50 52,677.49
Men's Golf 54,851.50 31,637.00 19,209.00 105,697.50
Men's Track & XC 54,886.74 25,187.32 11,429.00 91,503.06
Men's Soccer 153,553.32 61,477.15 31,226.00 246,256.47
Softball 70,465.09 42,800.00 23,462.00 136,727.09
Swimming 122,980.45 58,262.54 39,154.20 220,397.19
Volleyball 23,447.00 11,269.00 7,659.45 42,375.45
Women's Basketball - 50.00 - 50.00
Women's Golf 28,966.75 17,344.00 7,261.75 53,572.50
Women's Soccer 98,981.00 65,327.50 37,798.00 202,106.50
Women's Tennis 711.00 235.00 300.00 1,246.00
Women's Track & XC 163,635.30 108,045.31 44,894.44 316,575.05
Totals $ 2,751,691.14 $ 800,109.20 $ 448,716.43 $ 4,000,516.77
*Includes students on partial scholarships and non-scholarship student-athletes (walk-ons). Excludes any institutional financial aid awarded
the students. [Source: Marshall University Office of Institutional Research]
3
Other FAQs
Q. How were Marshall’s new athletics facilities funded?
A. Marshall has opened a number of athletics facilities since 2013, including the Hoops Family Field at the
Veterans Memorial Soccer Complex and the Chris Cline Athletic Complex (Indoor Athletic Facility/Jeff Small
Track, Buck Harless Student-Athlete Academic Center, Marshall Sports Medicine Institute and Chad Pennington
Athletic Hall of Fame). These facilities were funded entirely by $30 million in private donations raised through
the Vision Campaign and facilities fees collected from ticket sales for football and men’s basketball.
Q. What are “cost of attendance” allowances and how are they provided?
A. Upon advice from the university’s legal counsel and in line with other Conference USA institutions, Marshall
this year began providing scholarship student-athletes “cost of attendance” allowances. These allowances are
intended to cover some of the miscellaneous costs of attending school, including transportation, meals,
toiletries and other living expenses. The cost to Marshall to provide the allowances is approximately
$450,000/year and is covered entirely from private donations and allocations from the NCAA and Conference
USA.
Q. How are salaries for athletics staff and coaches funded?
A. Some Department of Athletics staff members are paid from the institutional allocation. All coaches and the
remaining staff are paid from other Department of Athletics accounts.
Q. How much has the Department of Athletics contributed to closing the university’s budget gap this year?
A. As shown in Chart E, the Department of Athletics contributed $300,000 of the $2.6 million needed to close
the FY2015-16 budget gap.
Chart E - FY2016 $2.6M gap closure items
INTO additional revenue 100,000
Athletics transfer 300,000
Pharmacy transfer 500,000
Rapid Response Team net revenue 290,380
E-course transfer 350,000
Academic vacancy savings/delayed hiring 418,813
Direct Expenditures reductions 91,369
Institutional vacancy savings/contingency balances 589,889
Total 2,640,451 [Source: Marshall University Department of Finance and Budget Work Group, March 29, 2016]
4
Q. What is the profile of Marshall’s student-athletes?
A. Student-athletes make up nearly 7% of Marshall’s full-time, undergraduate student body. As shown in Chart
F below, they are enrolled in every college of the university.
Chart F - Enrollment of Marshall Student-Athletes by College (Fall 2015)
Student-Athletes* Total FT
Undergraduate
MU College Count % of Total Enrollment
College of Arts and Media 13 2.7% 490
College of Business 133 13.1% 1012
College of Education 34 3.6% 953
College of Health Professions 175 8.4% 2094
College of Info Tech and Engr 12 2.5% 476
College of Liberal Arts 26 2.8% 916
College of Science 76 5.4% 1413
University College 53 12.7% 418
Board of Regents (RBA) 4 2.5% 158
Grand Total 526 6.6% 7930
*Full-time, undergraduate, degree-seeking students only. “Athletes” includes current and former athletes enrolled
fall 2015. [Source: Marshall University Office of Institutional Research and Planning]
In the classroom, Marshall’s student-athletes stack up favorably with non-athletes.
Specifically:
• In fall 2015, 11 of 14 sports teams had term GPAs of 3.0 or higher. The other three teams had term
GPAs of at least 2.5.
• More than half of Marshall’s student-athletes have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher.
• Last year, Thundering Herd tennis and outdoor track and field teams academically were in the top
10% nationally in their sports, with perfect 1000 scores in the multi-year measurements. Eight Herd
programs posted perfect single-year scores of 1000 in the retention measurement, with two others
at 986. Eleven programs had perfect scores in eligibility/graduation. [Source: 2013-14 NCAA Division I Academic
Progress Rate report]
Student-athletes contribute substantially to the diversity of the student body at Marshall. In fall 2015, student-
athletes made up approximately 18% of the university’s black, undergraduate student population and about
13% of Marshall’s total non-white, undergraduate student population. [Source: Marshall University Office of Institutional
Research and Planning]
Memphis
SMU
4 p.m. Dallas, TX Live Stats Live Video TV:ESPN2
Cincinnati
UConn
Temple
USF
East Carolina
Houston
Tulsa
Tulane
