Dean’s List: Which UNC System universities will receive money from legal sports betting?
If you couldn’t tell by the seemingly nonstop TV and social media ads, sports betting is now legal — and as of noon Monday, officially live — in North Carolina, just in time for March Madness.
North Carolinians aged 21 and older can now place bets on professional and college sports teams through the eight betting operators that are licensed in the state. Betting is only online for now, but in-person betting will eventually be available.
Betting operators’ revenue will be taxed by the state at a rate of 18%. So, where is that money going?
State law outlines several different ways sports betting tax revenues must be distributed and used — including to support athletic departments and programs at 13 of the state’s 16 public universities.
Welcome to Dean’s List, a weekly roundup of higher education news in the Triangle and across North Carolina from The News & Observer and myself, Korie Dean.
This week’s edition includes more information about which public universities will benefit from sports betting revenues, a new degree program at UNC-Chapel Hill and changes to the “expression tunnels” at Appalachian State University.
How UNC System schools will benefit from sports betting
State law on sports betting requires that the following UNC System universities receive a share of tax revenues from sports betting:
Appalachian State University
East Carolina University
Elizabeth City State University
Fayetteville State University
NC A&T State University
NC Central University
UNC Asheville
UNC Charlotte
UNC Greensboro
UNC Pembroke
UNC Wilmington
Western Carolina University
Winston-Salem State University
Beginning in the 2025 fiscal year, the athletic departments at those 13 schools will each receive at least $300,000 in revenues each year, provided there are sufficient funds. If there are not enough funds for each school to receive $300,000, the law states that the allocation must “be reduced by the same proportion so that all institutions receive an appropriation of the same amount.”
On top of the $300,000, the schools will split evenly 20% of the revenues that remain after other agencies, like the state Department of Health and Human Services, all receive their shares.
The state estimates that the 18% tax rate will yield a total of about $65 million in revenue next fiscal year and more than $100 million by 2028. According to legislative researchers, the 13 athletic departments could each receive $1.2 million in the 2024-25 fiscal year.
Revenues and distributions of that scale will likely be a big boon for the departments.
Unlike UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State University, which record well over $100 million in revenues each year, the athletic programs at the 13 benefiting schools do not generate as much money, generally leaving students to subsidize them, to some degree, through fees.
While student athletic fees at UNC and NC State will come in at less than $300 next academic year, the remaining schools will charge their students between $773, at ECU, and $906, at UNC Asheville. (The UNC School of the Arts does not operate an athletic department or charge an athletic fee, and it will not receive funds from sports betting.)
“These athletic programs provide valuable economic benefits to their institutions and regions, yet a significant portion of their costs are supported by student fees,” materials from an October UNC System Board of Governors meeting on the topic stated.
It’s unclear just how — or how quickly — betting revenues will begin to impact student athletic fees. The Board of Governors last month approved tuition and fee rates for the upcoming academic year and is not expected to approve rates for the 2025-2026 academic year until next year.
On a related note: The N&O sports team has been all over sports betting coverage. For a particularly higher education-focused angle on the topic, check out Steve Wiseman’s report on how legal gambling on college athletics will put more pressure on student athletes — and affect their mental health.
UNC launches undergrad data science degree
UNC-Chapel Hill will begin offering two undergraduate degrees in data science this fall, with one marking the first offered by the university’s School of Data Science and Society.
The data science school will offer a bachelor of science in data science, while the College of Arts and Sciences will offer a bachelor of arts through the college’s department of statistics and operations research. The college already offers a minor in data science, which launched in 2021.
The BS will focus on “the rigorous quantitative foundations of data science; advanced computational, statistical and mathematical principles of data science; and interdisciplinary coursework,” a news release said.
“This new program will offer students an opportunity to dive into the depths of data science and look at how this science can be applied to different disciplines in order to solve our state’s greatest challenges,” dean Stan Ahalt said of the BS program in the news release. “Data science is part of almost everything in modern society, and we hope to produce data scientists that will excel and continue to contribute to our world well into the future.”
The BA will have “an emphasis on applied data science training for students pursuing a variety of career paths,” including earth science, political science or public policy and bioinformatics, among other areas.
Students will be required to apply to the BS program, while a letter of interest is requested from students pursuing the BA.
The data science school also offers an online graduate program.
Changes to App State ‘expression tunnels’
Some students are lamenting changes to Appalachian State University’s “expression tunnels” — officially, the Rivers Street tunnels — as the university begins an “upgrade” project it says will improve safety.
The tunnels, which are similar to NC State University’s Free Expression Tunnel, are described on an App State online map as a pathway for students to “pass safely between the east and west sides of campus” and as “the only places at App State where graffiti and other forms of art and vandalism are not only allowed but encouraged.”
But with the university’s planned upgrades, all of the art, paint and other designs in the tunnels are about to be removed.
The project will be a “complete overhaul,” App State Chancellor Sheri Everts said in a March 1 campus message. That includes adding brighter lighting and cameras to monitor the area.
“The renovation aims to address safety concerns, ensuring that the tunnels are well lit, police patrolled and monitored, and slip-resistant, even in adverse weather conditions,” the university’s webpage about the project states. “By transforming this space, App State reinforces its commitment to providing a campus environment that is both inviting and secure.”
Renderings show that the tunnels will be repainted in school colors and lined with phrases such as “Roll ‘Neers.”
Emily Escobedo Ramirez, an App State student and opinion writer for The Appalachian, wrote for the student paper last week that the new designs “are ugly and uncreative,” and that the changes will remove “a crucial medium that allows for individual self-expression and speaks to the community’s interests.”
An online petition calling on the university to “save the expression tunnels” has collected around 2,500 signatures.
The project is expected to be completed in April.
Higher ed news I’m reading
Public universities in Virginia are now banned from giving preferential treatment to applicants who are children of alumni, under a bill Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed last week, The Washington Post reported. The decision will mostly impact the University of Virginia and William & Mary.
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That’s all for this week’s roundup of North Carolina higher education news. I hope you’ll stay tuned for more.
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