March 23, 2010
Dear Cyclone fans,
Over the past several days, many of you have read reports about the Board of Regents proposed policy to substantially reduce or eliminate state funding for college athletics at the University of Iowa, the University of Northern Iowa and Iowa State University. The purpose of this letter is to share several important facts related to this proposed policy change.
The proposal will actually have a minimal impact on our athletics program because we have already reduced our reliance on state funding significantly in the past five years. As you can see in the chart, we have reduced our state support from nearly 12% of the total budget ($3.4 million) in 2005 to 3.7% of the total budget ($1.6 million) in 2010. In addition, we plan to continue reducing our dependence on state funding further in the next several years.
Despite the significant reduction in state support for our athletics program the last five years, we have been able to increase our overall annual athletics funding during that same time period from $28 million to $42 million. We have also invested more than $50 million in new and renovated facilities and have significantly improved our overall academic and athletics competitiveness. These positive gains are a result of your continued support of our institution and athletics program.
On behalf of all 450 Iowa State University student-athletes, coaches and staff, we simply say thank you for your generosity.
Go Cyclones!
Sincerely,
Jamie Pollard
Director of Athletics
