Washington State Plans To Force Students To Bail Out Broke Athletics Department

Washington State’s football team is 1-2 this season, including a loss to FCS team Eastern Washington. Head coach Mike Leach is still pulling a $3 million salary, though, and that’s contributed to an athletics department budget deficit—one the university plans to force students to bail out.

WSU students already pay $1,255 in mandatory fees each year, and the Pullman plan is to make each of the 20,000 students pony up another $50 to help cover the $13 million deficit—a shortfall that is the product of massive salaries paid to football and basketball coaches as well as athletics department administrators.

Those fat cats have fed well on the university’s millions in TV network, football playoff, and NCAA tournament revenue, all of which have turned out to be less than the university’s original projections. The university says forcing students to help fund athletics, along with allowing alcohol sales in-stadium, will help get the athletics program back in the black by 2020.

[ Spokesman-Review]