Georgia Southern endorse athletics fees

ATLANTA -- Georgia Southern University students have endorsed two new fees for athletics and the Georgia Board of Regents now must consider them.

In a campus-wide referendum, 70 percent of the 9,400 students voting supported a $25 per-semester fee to expand Paulson Stadium. The plan would add 6,300 seats, all reserved for students. The current student section holds 4,000 of the stadium's 14,400 seats. That's only enough for a quarter of all GSO students. The fee would end once construction debt is paid off.

A second proposed fee of $75 per semester would be imposed only if Georgia Southern moves up to the Football Bowl Subdivision, the top level of Division I football. The school currently competes in the Football Championship Subdivision, formerly Division I-AA. That fee passed 61 percent to 39 percent.