BAD, or The Dumbing of America — A worthwhile read 15 years ago, and still relevant today.
In his book, BAD, or the Dumbing of America, Paul Fussell suggested that one of the best ways to make America a less dumb place would be to eliminate athletic scholarships entirely.
I agree — I think that the term “athletic scholarship” is an oxymoron. They’re also almost completely non-existent in Canada; the rules forbid entrance scholarships based on sports ability. As far as I recall, the only Canadian university to attempt (and fail) to join the NCAA was Simon Fraser University (presumably in an attempt to undo their rep as “The Marxists on the hill”).
Alas, the market does not agree with me and Paul Fussell. Take a look at this graph from the blog Carpe Diem, “Mark J. Perry’s Blog for Economics and Finance”, which compares college professors’ and college football coaches’ average salaries for 2007:
Here an excerpt from an article in USA Today on the topic of U.S. college football coaches’ compensation:
At least 50 coaches are making seven figures, seven more than a year ago. At least a dozen are pulling down $2 million or more, up from nine in 2006. Last season, Stoops was the only one making more than $3 million.
“Is this a favorable trend? The answer is: Of course not,” says LSU Chancellor Sean O’Keefe, who worked out the new deal with Miles. “That said, it’s also market dynamics. The value of things is determined by the demand that exists. There’s nothing unfair about that.”
I often consider the free market to be like the developmentally delayed little brother I never had: I love it dearly, but sometimes it’s as dumb as a bag of rocks.
2 replies on “College Professor Salaries vs. College Football Coach Salaries”
I completely Disagree. First, let me start by saying, The NCAA does not award 100% Athletic scholarships they must be 50% Athletic and 50% academic. I went to a very good private university (located in nashville, Tn) (rhymes with ANDERBILT)on a Scholarship. My parents, bothing work could never afford to send me there. I scored Near perfect on my SAT. I wanted to play ball in the SEC. The Business end of this little suggestion is that Professor so-and-so Doesn’t bring revenue to the school like athletics. Alumni supports bring huge dollars to a university to see their team perform well. The performance is based on recruiting top talent and good coaches- the coaches are compensated for WINNING and recruiting top talent. The University is compensated through contributions from alumni and TV revenue sharing. Thus, effectively padding the coffers to allow for more scholarships. OUR NATION IS BEING DUMBED DOWN THROUGH CONSTANT emphasis on inclusion and political correctness. You see, the author should do a little more home work and remember what he/she learned in Econ101 or maybe they didn’t get a scholarship so they are making an uneducated statement. …. gotta go!!
p.s.
sorry the opening was a little jumpy, I am at work. I am trying to make sure I can PAY for my childrens education, so they will never Know the pain and sacrifice of a “Full Ride”.
[…] by the rules. There was only one school in Canada that attempted to join the NCAA and they failed (http://www.joeydevilla.com/2007/12/10/college-professor-salaries-vs-college-football-coach-salaries/). That being said, if there were no athletic scholarships, then studnets would focus more on […]