Nicholls’ spending per athlete ranks last out of 12 schools in the Southland Conference with an athletic budget in the bottom 3 percent in the NCAA Division I, according to the U.S. Department of Education, a condition students could alter by voting for or against a fee that could cost students up to an additional $42 in fees each semester. The Student Government Association’s online fall elections will be held Sept. 18 – Sept. 20. If passed by the students, the fee, which is $3.50 per credit hour, will be implemented in the spring 2007 semester. It is expected to generate about $565,000 per year for the athletic department, Athletics Director Rob Bernardi said.

Nicholls’ athletic department’s budget of $3.6 million ranked last in the Southland Conference and 318th out of 326 schools in the NCAA Division I for the 2004-2005 school year, the last year with available statistics from the U.S. Department of Education.

“I know it’s painful any time fees are talked about, but I think ours would be certainly less painful than some of the other schools in our league. And they are fairly modest in comparison,” Bernardi said.

Dawn Poole, general studies junior from Morgan City, said she is opposed to paying any extra fees for athletics because she does not think more money will make the players perform better. “I’ve never supported athletics, it’s just not my thing,” she said.

Students at other universities in the Southland Conference support athletics by paying fees higher than the $3.50 per credit hour fee proposed at Nicholls.

According to Bernardi, the University of Texas at San Antonio collects $10 per credit hour from each of its students, which is $120 for a full-time student and generates $6.4 million for its athletic department. Students at the University of Texas at Arlington pay $10.50 per credit hour, which is $126 for a full-time student and generates about $4.5 million for its athletic department. Stephen F. Austin State University collects $150 from each fulltime student every semester, which generates about $4.7 million, Bernardi said.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, which collects annual budget reports from all universities that participate in federal student financial assistance programs and have an intercollegiate athletic programs under the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act, Nicholls’ athletic department spent an estimated $1,330 per athlete in operating expenses for the 2004-2005 school year.

This amount is lower than the amounts spent at other universities in the Southland Conference during the 2004-2005 school year, the year of the latest updated reports.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, Nicholls spent the least in operating expenses per athlete of all public 4-year universities in Louisiana for the 2004-2005 school year.

Of the other Louisiana schools not in the Southland Conference, Louisiana State University spent the most on its athletes for the 2004-2005 school year with operating expenses per athlete at $10,229. Following LSU was Louisiana Tech University with $5,581 per athlete and the University of New Orleans with $4,634 per athlete. University of Louisiana at Lafayette spent $3,817 on each of its athletes, and the University of Louisiana at Monroe spent $2,519.