INDIANAPOLIS, March 24 (UPI) -- Undergraduates at Indiana University could be paying a $30 a year athletics fee to help bail out the college's sports programs, the Indianapolis Star said.
The fee is included in a proposed 4 percent tuition and fee hike recommended for in-state students at IU's main campus in Bloomington. IU sports programs are facing a $2 million deficit this year because of poor football ticket sales.
Attendance at Hoosier football fell from an average 38,000 a game in 1993 to under 35,000 in 2003.
Fifty-five percent of seats for Indiana's basketball games are already sold to the public and school officials don't want to reduce the number of seats reserved for students.
Five other Big Ten schools subsidize university athletic programs but no other taxpayer-supported conference school charges students a fee for intercollegiate athletics.
