A presentation on Monday to members of the House Appropriations Committee credited Speaker Kirk Cox’s 2015 legislation capping student athletic fees with slowing the growth of athletic fees at all public higher education institutions.
Tony Maggio, a fiscal analyst with the House Appropriations Committee, offered a table (below) to show student fee growth in the context of HB1897. During the 10 year period prior to the General Assembly passing HB1897, Maggio noted student athletic fees increased at rates of 5-8%; however in the years since HB1897 went into effect, “the average annual increases are less across the board,” reported Maggio.
HB1897 Prohibits the sum of school funds and student fees used to support intercollegiate athletics programs from exceeding a certain percentage of athletics revenues, as those terms are defined in the bill, at each four-year public institution of higher education in the Commonwealth.