By Keith Sargeant | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Seven months after the university's top faculty group offered a public rebuke of Rutgers Athletics spending, top school officials unveiled what it called "a four-year financial roadmap for athletics at Rutgers.''

NJ Advance Media obtained a copy of a letter sent by university President Robert Barchi to the members of the Rutgers Board of Governors and Board of Trustees on Tuesday. Included with the letter was a document detailing the Rutgers Athletics projected revenues-and-expenses budget through the 2020-21 season — the year when Rutgers becomes a full equity partner in Big Ten revenue distributions.

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Photo by John Munson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Here’s what Barchi wrote:

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After the Fiscal Year 2016 report to the NCAA revealed Rutgers athletics had a $38.5 million shortfall in its $83.9 million budget that was made up by $27.2 million in support from the university's operating budget and $11.4 million in student fees, the Rutgers New Brunswick Faculty Council in March unanimously voted to pass a resolution deploring the deficit and calling on the athletics program to retain an outside consultant to review the department's financial problems and prepare a "realistic'' financial plan "that will eliminate the program's deficits as quickly as possible.''

Rutgers Athletics Director Pat Hobbs responded at the time by saying he will do his best to keep the school’s 24 teams competitive in a "fiscally prudent manner.''

“We are a great academic institution with a great faculty,’’ Hobbs said, “and we will continue to work everyday to make the University community proud.''

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Reached by phone Tuesday evening, Hobbs told NJ Advance Media the new four-year financial plan “provides some clarification around Dr. Barchi’s statement of athletics reaching financial stability.’’

“We intend to make the investments that are required in order to return our programs to competitiveness and that level of competitiveness will hopefully grow these other revenue estimates at a pace that is higher than projected,’’ Hobbs said. “We wanted to be conservative in our budgeting but we certainly hope that our ticket revenues and contributions rate will go to a higher rate than we projected in this document.''

Here are the exclusive details on Rutgers' four-year financial plan:

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Internal doc shows RU athletics could owe $23.7M by 2021

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Saed Hindash | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

A B1G advance in revenue

In June, the Detroit Free Press obtained an internal document from the University of Michigan that revealed the Big Ten distribution to full-share members is projected to increase to $51.1 million in Fiscal Year 2018 from $36.3 million in Fiscal Year 2017 due mostly to a new conference-television agreement.

Under a six-year integration phase Rutgers is required to go through before earning a full-revenue share, the Big Ten sent Rutgers $9.5 million in its first year (FY2015) and $9.8 million following its second season (FY2016).

The latter figure was only a fraction of what other Big Ten members received in 2016.

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NJ Advance Media recently obtained the 2016 Fiscal Year documents from all 12 Big Ten full-share members. The financial ledgers reveal full-share Big Ten schools receive $37 million in conference distribution thanks to the league’s previous media-rights deal.

According to the university’s 10-year projections document in 2012, the Big Ten was expected to give Rutgers $11.2 million in 2017, $11.5 million in 2018, $14.9 million in 2019 and $19.3 million in 2020.

Rutgers’ new five-year projections plan shows a dramatic increase in those figures. The Big Ten is now expected to give Rutgers $12.6 million in 2017, $24.6 million in 2018, $27.1 million in 2019 and $29.4 million in 2020.

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Since full-share schools are set to receive $51.1 million from the Big Ten this year, it’s fair to assume that conference-distribution number will only increase in 2021.

However, Rutgers won’t receive that much.

Rutgers’ first full-share check from the Big Ten is projected to be $44.5 million.

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“You can see by this updated set of numbers that we are creating a more rational on-ramp to full Big Ten (full-share) partnership,’’ Hobbs said, “by advancing some of our future Big Ten distributions into the next three budget years.’’

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John Munson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Following the Maryland model

Rutgers’ new conference-revenue plan is not unlike the one Maryland reportedly agreed to when the university joined the Big Ten with Rutgers in 2012. The Big Ten’s intent was to keep both Rutgers and Maryland at the level of conference support that they had in their previous league.

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Maryland was set to receive $18 million in conference distribution in its final year of ACC membership; Rutgers was receiving about a third of that figure from the American Athletic Conference.

And since Maryland had a higher exit fee to escape its conference ($50 million paid by U of Md. compared to $11.5 million paid by RU), the Big Ten advanced Maryland its future full-share revenue in the early years.

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Hence, the Big Ten cut Maryland a check for $35.7 million in 2015 and $36.7 million in 2016.

In 2021, when the Big Ten cuts even-shares to all 14 members, Rutgers and Maryland will have smaller portions because of their respective advances.

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RVision1766 | YouTube.com

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HBO Real Sports scrutinizes Rutgers athletics spending

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Keith Sargeant | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

In 2016, Rutgers' revenues were:

Direct institutional support: $17.159 million

Ticket sales: $13.757 million

Contributions: $7.980 million

Student fees: $11.421 million

NCAA Distributions: $1.636 million

Big Ten Conference support: $9.846 million

Other: $10.496 million

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Future-year projections: 2017

Direct institutional support: $9.305 million

Direct institutional support for Title IX efforts: $1.931 million

Ticket sales: $14.038 million

Contributions: $8.966 million

Student fees: $11.767 million

NCAA Distributions (estimate): $1.717 million

Big Ten Conference support: $12.650 million

Other: $27.726 million

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2018

Direct institutional support: $8.286 million

Direct institutional support for Title IX efforts: $1.970 million

Ticket sales: $13.265 million

Contributions: $10.717 million

Student fees: $12.117 million

NCAA Distributions (estimate): $1.734 million

Big Ten Conference support: $24.642 million

Other: $21.227 million

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2019

Direct institutional support: $7.246 million

Direct institutional support for Title IX efforts: $2.010 million

Ticket sales: $13.663 million

Contributions: $10.978 million

Student fees: $12.240 million

NCAA Distributions (estimate): $1.751 million

Big Ten Conference support: $27.042 million

Other: $19.440 million

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Keith Sargeant | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

2020

Direct institutional support: $6.205 million

Direct institutional support for Title IX efforts: $2.051 million

Ticket sales: $14.073 million

Contributions: $11.248 million

Student fees: $12.485 million

NCAA Distributions (estimate): $1.769 million

Big Ten Conference support: $29.444 million

Other: $19.812 million

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2021

Direct institutional support: $0

Direct institutional support for Title IX efforts: $2.093 million

Ticket sales: $14.495 million

Contributions: $11.525 million

Student fees: $12.734 million

NCAA Distributions (estimate): $1.770 million

Big Ten Conference support: $44.489 million

Other: $18.091 million

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In 2016, Rutgers' expenses were:

Salaries and fringe benefits: $24.453 million

Student aid: $14.512 million

Sport and game-day expenses: $16.379 million

Debt service (external): $5.311 million

Debt service (internal): $350,824

Other (including $6.1 million loan, settlements & operating expenses): $22.969 million

Total expenditures: $83.974 million

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Future-year expenses projections: 2017

Salaries and fringe benefits: $34.678 million

Student aid: $14.007 million

Sport and game-day expenses: $15.034 million

Debt service (external): $5.696 million

Debt service (internal): $656,000

Other (including $5.5 million loan & operating expenses): $18.029 million

Total expenditures: $88.1 million

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A look at Hobbs' notable hires

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Keith Sargeant | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

2018

Salaries and fringe benefits: $39.842 million

Student aid: $14.287 million

Sport and game-day expenses: $16.370 million

Debt service (external): $6.707 million

Debt service (internal): $888,000

Other (including $2.8 million loan & operating expenses): $13.113 million

Total expenditures: $91.207 million

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2019

Salaries and fringe benefits: $41.502 million

Student aid: $14.715 million

Sport and game-day expenses: $16.816 million

Debt service (external): $6.77 million

Debt service (internal): $997,000

Other (including $1.3 million loan & operating expenses): 12.368 million

Total expenditures: $93.169 million

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2020

Salaries and fringe benefits: $43.343 million

Student aid: $15,157 million

Sport and game-day expenses: $17.275 million

Debt service (external): $7.162 million

Debt service (internal): $1.107 million

Other (including $1.3 million loan & operating expenses): $12.209 million

Total expenditures: $96.252 million

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2021

Salaries and fringe benefits: $47.971 million

Student aid: $15.612 million

Sport and game-day expenses: $17.746 million

Debt service (external): $7.288 million

Debt service (internal): $4.878 million

Other (including $1.3 million loan & operating expenses): $11.058 million

Total expenditures: $104.553 million

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Hobbs' fundraising goal for 2017

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Rutgers University

Facility-expansion debt

“Debt service (internal)” includes the payback associated with facilities expansion, including the annual debt on the $102 million High Point Solutions Stadium expansion in 2008-09 and the $26 million bond the university plans to use to pay for the $115 million RWJ Barnabas Health Athletic Performance Center.

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Title IX subsidy

On the annual NCAA fiscal year report, Rutgers lists direct-institutional support in one column. On the projections document, it splits it with “direct institutional support for Title IX efforts.’’

While the direct-institutional support is scheduled to decrease by $1 million annually from 2017 through 2020 before getting completely eliminated in 2021, the university’s subsidy for Title IX efforts will continue in 2021 and beyond.

In 2015-16, Rutgers funneled $9.2 million in direct-institutional support to its 14 women’s teams compared to $2.8 million to its 10 men’s teams.

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Loan explanation

As previously reported, Rutgers Athletics took out a loan from the university’s internal bank for $18.4 million, to be paid in a series of installments between 2016 and 2021.

Rutgers Athletics is required to pay 5.75 percent interest on that loan, which means the program is expected to payback a total of $23.7 million in loan and interest fees to the university once it receives its full-share Big Ten distribution in 2021.

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Counterpoint

Last March, Mark Killingsworth, a Rutgers economics professor and a critic of athletics spending through the years, presented a study which showed the athletics department's deficit to be $351.9 million since 2003-04 and $145.8 million since Barchi took office in 2012.

Hours after he was emailed a copy of the new Rutgers athletics financial plan Wednesday, Killingsworth told NJ Advance Media “Barchi's and Hobbs' claims about the roadmap don't square with the roadmap itself.’’

“Even assuming that all goes according to plan (no more firings of coaches, a tight control on expenditures, no more loans to athletics, etc.), as of 2020-21 the University will still be making an athletics bailout of over $2m in direct institutional support, and it will be siphoning $12.7m from students to prop up athletics,’’ Killingsworth said in an email. “In every single year between now and 2020-21, students will actually have to pay more for athletics than the roadmap expects donors to contribute. All this is a far cry from making the program ‘revenue-positive and financially self-sufficient’, and it is simply not sufficient to ensure that the program will operate in a ‘fiscally prudent manner.’ ''

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John Munson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

About the increase in expenditures

In 2004, Rutgers spent $33.2 million on its athletics program. By 2012, the university was spending twice that amount ($64 million). Due to costs associated with settlements from the ousters of the previous administration and basketball/football coaching staffs, Rutgers Athletics spent $84 million in 2015-16.

The program’s annual expenditures are scheduled to steadily increase between now and 2021, when Rutgers is projected to spend $104 million to fund athletics.

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While critics of Rutgers athletics’ spending point out that revenues lag far behind expenses on an annual basis, top RU officials often point out that the university’s athletics spending pales in comparison to its’ Big Ten peers.

In 2016, Rutgers Athletics ranked 12th among 13 Big Ten schools whose financial figures were publicly available. Only Purdue, at $78.8 million, spent less.

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Of course, Ohio State ($166.8 million) and Michigan ($157.8 million) were in a different stratosphere in terms of expenses. But consider nine schools exceeded $100 million in athletics spending in 2015-16, with Wisconsin ($130.4M), Penn State ($129.3M), Michigan State ($121.9M), Iowa ($116.2M), Minnesota ($111.2M) ranking 3-through-7 on the list.

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In other words, consider Rutgers’ projected $100 million athletics budget the cost of doing business in the Big Ten over the next decade.

“We’ll continue to try to be very careful in terms of our expenditures,’’ Hobbs said. “We need to make investments in order to grow revenues in the future. We’re making those investments, and people are seeing early signs of success from those investments.’’

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Keith Sargeant may be reached at ksargeant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @KSargeantNJ. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.