As state legislators
shrink its appropriations, it's hard enough for the University of
California-Berkeley to maintain the nation's highest academic ranking among
public colleges. But there now looms a
financial threat from another, somewhat unlikely quarter: the university's
football program. Until now, the years-old effort to renovate the school's
football stadium, which sits on an earthquake fault line, never raised many
alarms. Although its $321 million price tag would make it one of the most
expensive renovations in college sports history, the university said the
project would be funded privately, largely through long-term seat sales and
naming rights. But three years into the fund-raising effort, a projected $270
million from the sale of seats has failed to materialize. At the end of
December, the school had collected only $31 million in the first three years of
the sale. Now it has become clear that the university will have to borrow the
vast majority of the money.
In recent interviews, university officials acknowledge that if revenue
projections fall short and won't cover the bond payments, the shortfall
"would have to come from campus."…
Inside Higher Ed summary at http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2012/04/18/uc-berkeley-may-have-borrow-stadium-renovation
Someone has to pay if we end up disappointed:
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