Pay-to-Play Down Slightly, Survey Shows
July 24, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Slightly less than 50 percent of MHSAA member high schools assessed sports participation fees during the 2017-18 school year, according to an annual survey that enjoyed its highest response rate in 14 years of measuring the prevalence of charging students to help fund interscholastic athletics.
This year’s survey was completed by a record 80 percent of the MHSAA’s 751 member high schools, and 49 percent of respondents charged participation fees – down slightly from 49.7 percent in 2016-17, when the rate dropped below 50 percent for the first time since 2009-10.
The MHSAA conducted its first participation fee survey during the 2003-04 school year, when 24 percent of responding schools reported they charged fees. The percentage of member schools charging fees crossed 50 percent in 2010-11 and reached a high of 56.6 percent in 2013-14.
Class A schools remained the largest group charging fees in 2017-18, with 65 percent of respondents doing so – although that percentage was the lowest for Class A since 66 percent reported using fees in 2011-12. Class B schools fell to 47 percent charging fees (from 52 percent in 2016-17), while Class C (46 percent) and Class D (37) schools remained below 50 percent as well.
Charging a standardized fee for each team on which a student-athlete participates – regardless of the number of teams – remains the most popular method among schools assessing fees, with that rate at 43 percent of schools. Schools charging a one-time standardized fee per student-athlete showed a slight decrease to 28 percent, while assessing fees based on tiers of the number of sports a student-athlete plays (for example, charging a larger fee for the first team and less for additional sports) and assessing fees based on the specific sport being played (some being more expensive than others) both showed slight upticks to 15 and 5 percent, respectively.
The amounts of most fees remained consistent during 2017-18: the median annual maximum fee per student at $150, the median annual maximum family fee at $300 and the median per-team fee at $75 – all for at least the fourth straight year. The median fee assessed by schools that charge student-athletes once per year held steady at $125 for the second straight school year.
Click for the survey for 2017-18, and surveys from previous years can be found here.
Council Approves Proposals Providing Roster, Schedule Flexibility at Winter Meeting
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
March 23, 2026
The Representative Council of the Michigan High School Athletic Association approved a pair of proposals during its Winter Meeting on March 20 in East Lansing that increase roster flexibility in softball and schedule flexibility in track & field and will take immediate effect for this upcoming spring season.
The Council approved a Softball Committee proposal to allow athletes to compete on teams in multiple levels of that sport on the same day, as long as those athletes do not exceed 38 regular-season games in total across all levels. This mirrors what is currently allowed in baseball.
The Council also approved a Track & Field Committee recommendation allowing for Regional competitions to be conducted on Wednesdays, in addition to the current Thursday-Saturday window. This adjustment will allow for Regionals to be competed this season from May 13-16.
Also approved for the start of the 2026-27 school year were matching proposals from the Golf and Tennis Committees adjusting the allowed first day of competition. Teams in those sports may now compete for the first time after three separate days of practice, but not before four calendar days after the first date of practice is permitted. All fall sports for 2026-27 are allowed to begin practice Aug. 10.
Additionally, the Council received a report on personal branding activity (PBA) deals students have made since the Council approved the allowance of PBA on Jan. 27. The Council also discussed the development of the online Transfer Tracker designed to guide schools on eligibility determinations whenever a student transfers schools after beginning ninth grade. The Council will consider taking action on use of the Transfer Tracker during its Spring Meeting, May 3-4.
The Representative Council is the legislative body of the MHSAA. All but five members are elected by member schools. Four members are appointed by the Council to facilitate representation of females and minorities, and the 19th position is occupied by the Superintendent of Public Instruction or designee.
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.