The big spectacle of the NCAA College Basketball tournament is lots of fun for many Americans, but it also imposes heavy costs that are usually ignored. College sports are not self-supporting; student fees and taxpayer dollars cover much of the expense.

In today’s Martin Center article, Jenna Robinson looks at the cost of athletics within the UNC system.


“At some point,” she writes, “university leaders need to reassess their sports spending instead of quickly dismissing every argument against the athletics-arms race.” That’s right.

Some years ago, I asked a professor who had grown up in New Zealand what he thought about the sports mania on American college campuses. He replied that he found it amazing. “In New Zealand,” he said, “universities are for education, not playing games.”