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What Does It Cost to Have a Top 25 Football Program?

We looked at the EADA figures from 2023-24 and found things in common

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Steve Ulrich
August 18, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 12 minutes

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AUGUST 18, 2025 | composed by STEVE ULRICH
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🗞️ In Today’s Edition. Costs for a Top 25 football program? Trans athlete sues Swarthmore, NCAA. WAC faces financial woes. Schuemann named ASC commissioner. Abdo impresses at US Amateur. Updates on playing rules. Best frozen drinks.

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TOP STORY
1. What Does It Cost to Have a Top 25 Football Program?

What does it cost to have a top 25 football team in Division III?

If figures from the 2023-24 campaign tell us anything, it tells us that at least 20 percent of a school’s total operating expenditure for athletics is needed.

D3Playbook dove into the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act (EADA) submissions that each college that receives federal student aid (Title IV) funding is required to provide to the government. And while each institution arrives at its totals using various accounting methods, it is apparent that $560,000 at a minimum would have been needed to be a top 25 team in 2023.

» Of Note. #16 Hardin-Simmons had the largest roster among the top 25 with 203 participants and spent $1.34 million on football. Trinity (Texas) was the only other seven-figure spender on the list ($1.395 million). Hardin-Simmons also spent 37.7% of its total athletic expense on the gridiron. Johns Hopkins spent the least percentage-wise at 9.1%, but the Blue Jays topped the chart at $10.7 million spent on athletics - much of that earmarked for lacrosse scholarships.

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LEGAL
2. Trans Athlete Sues Swarthmore, NCAA, Alleging Discrimination

by Katie Barnes, ESPN

“Former Swarthmore track and field athlete Evelyn Parts sued Swarthmore College, several athletic department officials and the NCAA on Thursday, claiming they discriminated against her because she is a transgender woman.

The lawsuit, which was filed in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, claims that the defendants violated Parts' Title IX rights, inflicted emotional distress and engaged in a civil conspiracy.

» Driving The News. “The lawsuit stated that beginning in 2023, Parts competed for Swarthmore for her final two years of college and was named as a captain of the women's track and field team in the fall of 2024. After the NCAA amended its policy, Swarthmore gave Parts two options to continue competing in track and field: compete in men's competition or compete unattached to the college. As an unattached athlete, Parts was not allowed to receive coaching, travel, financial support or medical support from Swarthmore, according to the lawsuit.”

» Quotable. "We stand by the allegations in the complaint," said Parts' attorney, Susan Cirilli. "The NCAA is a private organization that issued a bigoted policy. Swarthmore chose to follow that policy and disregard federal and state law."

FINANCES
3. Washington College Faces Financial Woes, Presidential Turnover at Critical Time

by Jean Marbella, Baltimore Sun

“Washington College could perhaps use its namesake’s 50 guinea coins these days.

The 243-year-old institution in Chestertown on the Eastern Shore, whose early donors and board members included the future first U.S. president, has seen enrollment tumble, its budget run into deficit, and five presidents or interim presidents come and go in the past 10 years, the most recent leaving last month.

While the troubles are not entirely unique among small liberal arts colleges across the country, they have unnerved some alumni and community members for whom the tidy red-brick campus is a precious gem in this charming small town on the banks of the Chester River.”

» The Bottom Line. “The college has dipped more deeply than it would like into its endowment, cut staff and salaries and enters this academic year with 94 faculty members, from 103 last year. College officials said its budget faced structural issues as a result of declining enrollments — it had 923 students last year compared to 1,515 in 2011 — without a comparable drop in its largest expense, salaries and compensation.”

» Between The Lines. “The school shed nearly 40 staff positions through measures like early retirement and position eliminations. Officials said they did not let any tenured or tenure-track professors go, instead targeting visiting professors and other staff, furloughed the highest-paid employees for two weeks and cut the cabinet’s salaries by 7%.”

CONFERENCES
4. Schuemann Named ASC Commissioner

Leslie Schuemann, deputy commissioner of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, has been named the commissioner of the American Southwest Conference.

Schuemann will succeed David Flores, who has served the ASC since 2023. “We are grateful to David for bringing stability to our conference and for his unwavering commitment to our member schools,” said Randy O’Rear, chair of the ASC Council of Presidents. Flores announced that his resignation will be effective in late September, in order to provide a period of transitional support.

» What They’re Saying. “Our Council of Presidents could not be more thrilled that Leslie has agreed to serve as our next Commissioner,” said O’Rear. “She is a proven leader, strong communicator, and is deeply committed to the student-athlete experience. Leslie’s rich background, athletic acumen, and strategic vision make her the perfect choice to lead the ASC to a bright future.”

NEWS YOU CAN USE
5. Lightning Round ⚡️ 

» Golf. Congratulations to Gustavus Adolphus sophomore Jimmy Abdo on his run to the quarterfinal round of the U.S. Amateur golf championship.

» Courts. “A federal judge on Thursday struck down the U.S. Department of Education’s guidance that threatened to strip colleges and K-12 schools of their federal funding over diversity, equity and inclusion practices it deemed unlawful.”

» PROP. The Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved new rules for softball, women’s lacrosse and ice hockey.

TRANSACTIONS
6. Comings and Goings 

1 THING
7. Milkshakes, Malts, Concretes, Frappes and More: A (Delicious) Guide to Frozen Drinks

by Katie Workman, Associated Press

“In the summer heat, we find ourselves drawn to that glorious section of the drinks menu that promises relief in the form of a cold, creamy, brain-freezing indulgence. But ordering a frozen drink looks different in different parts of the U.S., and in different restaurants and ice cream shops.

So, what is the difference between a milkshake, a malt, a frappe or maybe even a concrete?

Geography, tradition and local lingo all play a role in how frozen drinks are made and what they’re called.”

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