The College Fix

It was useful at one point, so let’s keep it

Golf is an enjoyable pastime for many people. For others, hitting the links with the boss or their business connections helps advance their career.

And for universities including Missouri’s St. Louis campus and Ohio’s Kent State, golf is crucial because … um …

It took Kent State five years to realize that running a golf course that bled money wasn’t in its interest, only after Gov. John Kasich and lawmakers forced it to examine the value of its “non-core assets” and brainstorm ways to cut the cost of a degree by 5 percent.

Kent Wired, a joint operation of The Kent Stater and TV2, reports that the university finally pulled the plug near the end of the semester, citing “financial challenges” in the “Northeast Ohio golf industry.”

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It obtained financial records from the Office of General Counsel that showed the 18-hole course lost more than $800,000 from July 2010 to June 2016.

And that loss wasn’t spread evenly:

Although the public par-70 course lost $50,328.73 six years ago, that amount more than doubled by 2013 and hit a new low during the July 2015 to June 2016 fiscal year, in which the course suffered a $182,226.60 hit. The loss ultimately forced Kent State’s Board of Trustees to look at other options for the 40-acre site, including either selling it or repurposing the land.

A decision, however, has not yet been made public.

Story idea: Does your university own a golf course? How much is that costing you? Find out! @kentwired https://t.co/PHlOVYQ8mW

— Student Press Law Center (@SPLC) January 18, 2017

The university didn’t need the course for its men’s and women’s golf programs, since they practice elsewhere. It spent about $284,000 on salaries, wages and “staff benefits” last fiscal year to run the course.

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Unlike universities that build or purchase amenities with no academic purpose to make themselves look better to prospective students (until those newly matriculated students’ parents see the bill), Kent State had justified keeping the course because of its past utility.

Before Kasich created the Task Force on Affordability and Efficiency and the Legislature mandated the “non-core assets” assessment for state-funded institutions last year, average tuition cost at Ohio public universities was 14 percent above the national average.

Maybe they should go further in the next session and require admissions materials to have a “Perpetual Boondoggles” section.

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