This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The benefits of a college degree are many. Census data from 2010 indicate that in Utah the median salary for a worker holding a bachelor degree was $41,171. A high school graduate pulled down $27,154. More education pays off and everyone benefits.
The college-educated pay more taxes, enjoy lower unemployment rates, live longer, impose less of a burden upon the health care system, vote at a higher rate, commit fewer crimes and are even less often the victims of crime. This is not to say that education directly causes these outcomes.
But arguably, education is associated with many benefits to society. So there is no wonder that the national percentage of those with a bachelor degree or higher grew from 5 percent of the population in 1940 to 27.7 percent in 2008.
While a degree offers benefits, it is also very expensive. Higher education might be called hyperinflationary. Its cost index is wildly astronomical, exceeding even health care by a wide margin. Data from the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education reveal an incredible 439 percent increase in college tuition and fees from 1982 till 2007. By comparison, the consumer price index rose 106 percent and median family income grew 147 percent.
Thus the explosion of student debt. According to data from the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, the median debt for graduating students with a bachelor degree in 2008 was $19,999. Good thing interest rates have been low!
As reported by The Salt Lake Tribune on May 5, some relief may be in sight at the University of Utah. A lucrative $3 billion Pacific 12 Athletic Conference television deal will in time send $21 million a year into the U of U. Apparently some of these monies will be allocated to non-athletic needs. I suggest a further relief measure: reining in salaries of the coaching staff and diverting that money to the financial aide office to assist the general student body.
A review of salaries of head football and basketball coaches suggests there is room for reining in. There are 120 major college football programs identified collectively as the Football Bowl Championship Subdivision of the NCAA. According to data compiled by USA Today in 2010, compensation packages for head football coaches ranged from $5.9 million at Alabama to $191,000 at Kent State. You can see that salary matters on the field. Alabama would routinely be expected to crush Kent State.
At the University of Utah, head football coach Kyle Whittingham's 2010 complete compensation package (with bonus) was worth more than $1.6 million. This ranks 51st among the 120 major programs. Surprisingly, Whittingham is far and away the highest-paid employee on campus, receiving even more than professors at the University School of Medicine who are training students to save lives.
Where did former University President Michael Young fall on the compensation list? He's number 97 at a salary of $394,319. Well then, who is in the number two spot? That's new head basketball coach Larry Krystkowiak with total compensation of $959,000.
Let's play with some numbers. The present combined compensation packages for the head football and basketball coaches at the U. is $2.6 million. Let's say that the university instead provided a compensation package of $350,000 for the head football coach and $300,000 for the head basketball coach. Subtract that $650,000 total from the present combined compensation packages and we are left with $1.9 million for allocation to the financial aid office for creation of scholarships. The athletic program would help sustain the academic mission of the university while still sustaining it's own programs.
And what could $1.9 million worth of reining in provide? How about $5,000 scholarships for 394 students? Imagine the residual benefits to society. That really would be reason to cheer on the football and basketball teams!
But the solution cannot be Utah's alone. Agreement is needed from all NCAA institutions to determine common salary guidelines for the purpose of providing an entertaining product while generating funds to support the educational mission of the institution.
And will a football or basketball coach sign a salary contract for $350,000? He will, gladly, if it's the standard for his peers.
John M. Seaman is a retired school psychologist, an adjunct professor of psychology at Salt Lake Community College and loyal University of Utah fan. He lives in West Valley City.