Participation Fee Numbers Hold Steady
June 27, 2012
Although the use of participation fees to help fund interscholastic athletics in Michigan high schools has doubled during the last nine years, the percentage of schools assessing them has held steady over the last two, according to surveys taken by the Michigan High School Athletic Association of its member institutions.
The most recently completed survey indicates that of 514 member schools participating, 260 schools – 50.5 percent – charged participation fees during the 2011-12 school year. In the 2010-11 survey, fees were being used at 50.4 percent of schools participating.
There were 763 senior high schools in the MHSAA membership this school year – the survey generated a response rate of 68 percent. This was the ninth survey of schools since the 2003-04, when members reported that fees were being used in 24 percent of schools.
The most recent survey also showed that fees incurred by students who paid once for an entire year of participation increased slightly from 2010-11 to 2011-12 – although the maximum fee per family decreased slightly.
The most popular method of assessing participation fees continues to be a payment for each sport an athlete goes out for, used by 41.5 percent of schools in 2011-12. That median fee among schools in the survey has increased only $5, to $75, since 2009-10.
A standardized annual fee per student was used by 24.5 percent of schools in the past year. Since Fall 2003, that fee has increased from $75 to $120 – a 60 percent increase – with the fee increasing $20 per athlete from 2010-11 to 2011-12.
Beginning with the 2004-05 survey, schools were asked in the survey if they had a cap on what individual student-athletes and families could be charged. Caps on student fees have been used by the majority of schools, but that number has dropped from 71.3 percent in 2004-05 to 55 percent in 2011-12. However, the number of schools instituting a cap on what a family pays has increased from 41 percent having a limit in 2004-05 to 49 percent in 2011-12.
Other data from the 2011-12 survey shows 64.5 percent of schools with participation fees have some kind of fee reduction or waiver program in place based on existing programs for subsidized lunch and milk (down from 68 percent in 2010-11); that 14 percent of schools using fees report a drop in participation; and that slightly more than one percent of schools report losing students to other school districts because they are charging fees. Five percent of schools not assessing fees in 2011-12 report transfers to their districts because of the absence of fees. Also, seven percent of schools not assessing fees had done so previously.
The survey for 2011-12 and surveys from previous years can be found on the MHSAA Website by clicking on Schools – Administrators – Pay-To-Play Resources.
Girls Golf, Boys Track & Field, Girls Wrestling Set MHSAA Participation Records in 2025-26
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
July 16, 2026
EAST LANSING, Mich. – July 16 – Girls golf, boys track & field and girls wrestling enjoyed record participation during the 2025-26 school year as 277,533 athletes total competed in Michigan High School Athletic Association-sponsored tournament sports representing 755 member high schools.
Girls golf set a participation record for the second-straight school year, this time with 4,355 athletes – an increase of 9.7 percent from the record total of the year prior. Boys track & field also set a participation record for the second straight year, this time with 25,053 athletes, up 1.2 percent from 2024-25. Girls wrestling continued its rapid growth, counting a record 1,783 participants this past winter – a jump of 18.5 percent from the year before – to give wrestling, boys and girls combined, a record total of 12,647 athletes despite a small decrease in the number of boys competing on the mat.
This past year’s overall participation total was 1,849 students more than in 2024-25, helped in part by the additions of field hockey and boys volleyball to the MHSAA postseason lineup but also despite a decrease in enrollment at member high schools of 441 students (approximately one tenth of a percent). Boys participation was up one percent to 162,984 athletes, while girls participation was down just two tenths of a percent to 114,157. MHSAA participation totals count students once for each sport in which they participate, meaning students who are multiple-sport athletes are counted more than once.
The addition of field hockey brought 1,169 participants to the girls total, which was also a 15-percent increase for that sport compared to the previous school year. Boys volleyball also saw participation increase during its first year of MHSAA sponsorship, up 49 percent to 2,261 athletes.
A few more sports also saw participation increases in 2025-26. Gymnastics was up 6.2 percent to 528 athletes, boys golf was up 5.4 percent to 7,819, boys soccer increased 2.3 percent to 14,435 participants, and competitive cheer increased 2.1 percent to 6,454. The boys golf total was its highest since 2005-06.
Among sports that saw participation decreases during 2025-26, boys basketball, boys bowling, boys lacrosse, girls soccer, girls swimming & diving and boys tennis all fell by less than one percent from the previous school year’s totals.
Football again was the most popular sport in terms of participation, with 35,635 athletes – 1.6 percent fewer than the year before but still the sport’s second-highest total over the last eight seasons. Volleyball continues to set the pace as the most popular girls sport, with its 19,297 athletes last fall a decrease of 1.9 percent from the previous year but still its second-highest total over the last eight seasons as well.
The participation figures are gathered annually from MHSAA member schools to submit to the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) for compiling of its national participation survey. Results of Michigan surveys from the 2000-01 school year to present may be viewed on the Administrators page.
The following chart shows participation figures for the 2025-26 school year from MHSAA member high schools for sports in which the Association sponsors a postseason tournament:
|
|
BOYS |
|
GIRLS |
|
|
Sport |
Schools (A) |
Participants |
Schools (A) |
Participants (B) |
|
Baseball |
643/8 |
15,685 |
- |
-/12 |
|
Basketball |
732/7 |
20,408 |
662 |
12,783/17 |
|
Bowling |
411/19 |
4,304 |
375 |
2,638/25 |
|
Competitive Cheer |
- |
- |
338 |
6,454 |
|
Cross Country |
650 |
7,934 |
626 |
6,676 |
|
Field Hockey |
- |
- |
43 |
1,169 |
|
Football - 11 player |
517/54 |
32,898 |
- |
-/63 |
|
8-player |
129/15 |
2,658 |
- |
-/16 |
|
Golf |
545/45 |
7,735 |
420 |
4,355/84 |
|
Gymnastics |
- |
- |
89 |
528 |
|
Ice Hockey |
282/26 |
3,024 |
- |
-/39 |
|
Lacrosse |
172/5 |
4,979 |
133 |
3,038/9 |
|
Skiing |
103/2 |
730 |
97 |
630/4 |
|
Soccer |
481/13 |
14,398 |
458 |
11,822/37 |
|
Softball |
- |
- |
613 |
11,040 |
|
Swimming & Diving |
253/19 |
3,972 |
274 |
4,631/58 |
|
Tennis |
285/9 |
6,086 |
324 |
9,557/23 |
|
Track & Field |
681/2 |
25,050 |
677 |
17,756/3 |
|
Volleyball |
136/2 |
2,259 |
710 |
19,297/2 |
|
Wrestling |
517 |
10,864 |
390 |
1,783 |
(A) The first number is the number of schools reporting sponsorship on the Sports Participation Survey, including primary and secondary schools in cooperative programs as of May 15, 2026. The second number indicates the number of schools that had girls playing on teams consisting primarily of boys.
(B) The second number indicates the number of additional girls playing on teams consisting primarily of boys and entered in boys competition.
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,500 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract more than 1.4 million spectators each year.