SDSU committee tables decision on student athletic fee hike

Amid student pushback over a proposed fee increase that will primarily benefit the debt-ridden athletic department, the San Diego State committee entrusted with making a recommendation to President Adela de la Torre tabled its decision for another week.

The 18-member Campus Fee Advisory Committee, which is split evenly between students and faculty or administrators, met Friday with the intention of hearing public comment and formulating a recommendation over what was initially proposed as a 45% increase to the Instructionally Related Activities (IRA) fee.

According to the most recently available budget, the mandatory fee currently provides the athletic department with $16.3 million annually, its largest single source of revenue and among the largest such student contributions in the country.

The current fee is $290 per semester, or $580 per year. The original proposal would increase the fee by $130 per semester to $840 per year, with 95% — or an estimated $9.7 million — going to athletics.

Instead of a student vote, the university opted for something called “alternative consultation,” a series of campus forums to explain the proposal and solicit feedback with the ability to make adjustments to the initial proposal. That’s followed by a CFAC recommendation to de la Torre, who makes a binding decision.

The student contingent on the committee suggested revisions that could reduce the athletic department’s take by $15 million over the next four years. At least one member expressed hesitation about recommending any fee increase, given the financial struggles many students are facing.

The tweaked proposal would reduce the ultimate fee hike from $130 to $120 per semester while dropping the athletic department’s take from 95% to 90% to accommodate other needs such as club sports, adaptive sports and student aid. The fee also would be phased in over four years, at $60 per semester for the first two, $90 for the third before rising to $120.

San Diego State proposes increased student fees to offset athletic department’s budget deficit

Instead of receiving $9.7 million next year, the athletic department would get only $4.3 million.

SDSU athletic director John David Wicker and most members of his executive staff were in attendance on Friday, standing in the back among the overflow crowd at the Tula Community Center. Wicker declined to comment afterward, saying he prefers to wait until the committee issues a formal recommendation.

Student speakers had plenty to say, though, during 30 minutes of public comment, both for and against the proposal.

Two athletes from most varsity teams were in attendance, with speakers from the Aztecs’ basketball, football, track, golf, softball, lacrosse, soccer and tennis teams.

Basketball player Jeremiah Oden spoke about the differences in the student experience generated by athletics at Wyoming, where he played for three seasons, and SDSU.

“It truly is one of a kind here at San Diego State,” Oden said. “I just think it’s important that we don’t start to take that for granted and know that it hasn’t always been like that. Being someone who has played for another team, I know how real it is from both sides, seeing the student section and the student experience, seeing how much the students enjoy that, and just knowing what a large part of the student experience that is.

“I’m very sympathetic to both sides. I think it’s important that we realize the fee is necessary in order for the university to continue going in the right direction.”

Next up was Trey White, an all-conference edge rusher from the football team.

“I support this fee greatly,” White said. “Especially as we move to the Pac-12, we have to keep up with the times and the money is going to help us so much, moving forward as a program and as a university.”

His fellow students weren’t so enthusiastic.

Several demanded a student vote, calling the alternative consultation process “undemocratic,” “an insult” and “shameful.”

“Alternative consultation is so obviously built so this fee can go into effect easily,” one student speaker said. “You know athletics has more than enough revenue. You know that there are other ways to get this money without wringing it out of families. … To the student representation here, I am genuinely asking: Please represent us.”

The only student vote at SDSU over mandatory athletic fees came in 2004, when then-president Stephen Weber requested an increase from $30 to $190 per year. The student referendum lost, but Weber unilaterally imposed the fee hike anyway, claiming the university needed to fund two additional women’s sports to maintain Title IX compliance (only one was ultimately added).

The university switched to alternative consultation for two IRA fee hikes since, and again for this one. The last increase that benefited athletics came in 2008-09, when its annual budget was one-third the current size.

“If the fee does not pass,” a FAQ section accompanying the proposal says, “the university will face significant challenges in sustaining and enhancing the athletics experience for students and student-athletes. … Competitiveness of SDSU’s athletics programs could decline.”

The university’s contribution to the athletic budget from the general fund (which primarily comes from state tax dollars) has declined slightly in recent years amid a state budget deficit, which is projected to grow even larger over the coming years.

The College Athletics Database, which collects federally mandated financial filings from public universities, reported SDSU’s athletic department had a $29.1 million deficit in 2024, the latest year available. (The Union-Tribune submitted a public records request with SDSU more than a month ago for more recent budgets that it has yet to receive.)

“I understand this fee is concerning to some people, but unfortunately in athletics, we don’t get that much money,” said Jordan Dobin, a junior on the lacrosse team. “Our field that we use – our practice field, football’s practice field, everybody else’s practice field, regular students use it – the amount of injuries we’ve had, the amount of ACL tears, goes unnoticed. Everybody uses our field, so the only way we can keep up with our field is to bring in money.”

The next speaker was a student named Faith.

“It’s so great that so many student-athletes are here to support this fee increase,” she said. “But it is truly disgusting but not surprising that the admin use their position of authority to mandate that each team send two athletes, not to speak their minds, of course, but (be) in favor of this unnecessary fee. You all should truly be ashamed.

“Listen to your students who actually came here out of their own free will to tell you that they are against this and want a student vote. You all sit here and tell us that we will get good jobs because of athletics, but what we actually need is support for our students who are houseless, food insecure, working multiple jobs to survive and in loan debt. Stop using students as a Band-Aid for your greed and mismanagement of money.”

The committee is scheduled to reconvene next Friday, possibly by Zoom, with the expectation that it will vote on a recommendation to de la Torre.