When Nebraska closed its books on the 2015-16 fiscal year at the end of June, John Jentz said the Huskers spent $36 million on their nearly 600 student-athletes across 24 sports.
That included such essentials as scholarships, academics, travel, equipment, medical support and training table and nutrition. It also included things like laptops, the NU post-eligibility program and testing and analytics.
“And we know that $36 million is going to grow probably faster than most areas just because of the focus on student-athlete welfare right now,” said Jentz, the NU executive associate athletic director and chief financial officer.
And as football season ticket holders received their 2016 packets last week, Jentz said they could feel good about their money going directly to help the athletes they will watch at Memorial Stadium.
Nebraska introduced the Student-Athlete Experience Fund as the sole recipient of all donations tied to football season tickets, starting with the 2016 renewal process and sales to new buyers. NU sent a letter detailing that information for boosters and ticket holders, created a video to accompany it and also included inserts in other correspondence with boosters.
