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UM athletics looking for ways to cut costs

| March 8, 2010 8:00 PM

MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) - University of Montana athletic director Jim O'Day is looking for ways to cut the department's budget, and he said out-of-state athletics scholarships could take a hit.

An increase in tuition, travel expenses, facilities rent and a higher administrative tax placed on the department by the university mean higher operating costs for the 2011-12 school year, O'Day said.

The department cut its budget by 5 percent last year and already has the highest-priced tickets in the Big Sky Conference, leaving out-of-state athletic scholarships as a possible source of budget cuts.

"That's a tough decision that might have to be made," O'Day said.

Currently, the department has $4 million budgeted for scholarships. In-state athletic scholarships cost about $14,000 while out-of-state scholarships cost $30,000.

"I can get two in-states for the cost of one out-of-state," O'Day said.

Reducing the number of out-of-state athletes could be a way to stretch scholarship dollars, but O'Day said that could hurt the competitiveness of UM's sports teams.

Athletics receives $4.5 million in support from the university, along with $1 million in student fees, while Montana State athletics gets $7.26 million in institutional support. UM makes up the difference with ticket sales, but O'Day said the struggling economy has hurt that area. Attendance for men's and women's basketball was down this season.

The Grizzly Scholarship Association is "helping out as much as they can," O'Day said, donating about $2.2 million toward scholarships.

O'Day said he plans to closely follow UM's search for a new president.

"Determining just how important athletics are to your campus. That's the difficult thing I worry about facing a new president," O'Day said.