The student leisure pool at Texas Tech University, which includes a 645-foot-long lazy river, is the largest leisure pool on a U.S. college campus. Students approved a fee increase of $10 per semester to the student recreation fee for construction of the pool. Photo courtesy of Texas Tech University.

Some rec center directors are finding themselves in a bit of a bind these days. Students come to college looking not just for superior academics but also for high-quality rec centers and programming, and multi-million dollar rec centers are being used as recruiting tools for more than athletes. But the economy has caused states to cut or flatten funding of higher education. The end result is that directors now must think like entrepreneurs and find new sources of funding.

For most colleges and universities, student fees cover the lion's share of the cost of running recreational programs. Student tuitions have increased faster than the inflation rate during the past 10 years, but student fees have remained relatively flat at most colleges and universities — although trends vary from state to state depending on state laws and policies.

“It's a little more difficult to diversify and grow programs due to the stagnation of funding,” says Joe MacLean, director of recreational sports at Texas Tech University. At Texas Tech, the student government association approves the student fee each year.

“We have not raised fees in the last three years,” he says.

MacLean's program receives $4.7 million in student fees each year and only $500,000 in state support. The remaining $1.2 million of his budget comes from outside sources.

“The student fee helps cover operating expenses,” says Maureen McGonagle, director of campus recreation at DePaul University in Chicago, who adds that the situation at DePaul is similar. “But it helps to have supplemental income.”

Funding for the rec center at Florida International University in Miami is allocated through student government, says Rob Frye, director of recreational services. Around 80 percent of his department's revenue comes from student government funding, representing about $15 per semester per student.

“Those who have a dedicated fee are probably in a stronger fiscal position,” says Mike Waldron, president of the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA) and associate director for business services at Texas A&M University's department of recreational sports.

Student fees generate about $2.1 million per year for the rec center at the University of Maine, according to Jeff Hunt, director of campus recreation. Much of that money goes to repay the bond issued to build the three-year-old facility. The rec center's budget is $2.9 million.

In 1997, central administration funded 53 percent of the University of Arizona's student affairs budget, which includes recreational programs. Today, that number has dropped to 35 percent. Frank Farias, assistant vice president for student affairs at the University of Arizona, blames cuts in state allocations.

“That is something everybody has been experiencing in Arizona,” he says. “The state has continually been declining allocations to higher education, period. So the impact has been across the board.”

But Farias doesn't let this get in his way.

“What we've basically been forced to do is think in a more entrepreneurial way,” he says.

Many university rec center directors are adopting more of a business mindset these days to meet their funding needs. They have transformed the way they fund their multi-million dollar programs, depending more and more on creative sources, such as sponsorships, pro shops, equipment and facility rentals, paid programming and community memberships. At many universities, students must now pay to participate in intramural or club sports — activities that were once traditionally covered by student fees.

The University of Maine's rec center finds its funding in many of these areas and more. It generates $630,000 in revenue annually from outside sources, including community memberships, equipment rentals, group exercise class fees, personal training fees, snack and drink sales, sponsorships and summer camps for area youth. The center's outdoor adventure program generates another $100,000 per year.

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