Growth in Sports Gifts May Mean Fewer Academic Donations

Money for athletics accounts for more than one-quarter of all contributions to some universities

As the country's biggest athletics departments have sought ways to pay for multimillion-dollar facility expansions, coaches' salaries, and other rising costs, their fund-raising operations have experienced enormous growth. But contributions to sports programs are eating up an ever-larger share of donations to colleges, Chronicle research suggests.

The country's largest athletics departments and booster clubs raised more than $1.2-billion in 2006-7, a Chronicle survey has found, with