Schools Seek Balance Between Participation Fees and Access

For schools facing rising costs and tight budgets, participation fees can provide a way to help maintain athletic programs. For families, however, those fees can create another financial barrier to participation in a space traditionally open to every student for free.

Over the last four decades, athletic participation fees for high school sports have become an expectation for many families across the country rather than an exception. The rise in fees has occurred despite many athletic directors viewing them as an option of “last resort.”

Participation fees are charges assessed to students or their families as a condition of participating in a school-sponsored athletic and/or activity program. Fees can vary based on how a school’s athletic programs are funded and state laws.

Some schools charge per sport, while others require a onetime payment to participate in any sport for an entire school year. Some districts also cap the amount a family pays based on how many children they have in school.

Participation fees started becoming more common in the 1980s as school districts faced budget pressures, rising costs and resistance to increased taxes. The practice expanded through the 1990s and 2000s as districts increasingly turned to “pay-to-play” fees to help maintain athletic programs, even as athletics typically accounted for just 2 to 3% of school operating budgets.

Similar financial challenges persist today.

A 2026 RAND study found that budget shortfalls had become the top challenge facing U.S. public school district leaders, with 54% of survey respondents ranking them among their top three concerns, up from 33% in 2025. Declining enrollment, the loss of federal COVID-19 relief funds and rising costs were among the concerns cited as contributing to shortfalls.

For some schools, participation fees have become one way to help address those financial pressures while maintaining athletic opportunities for students, whether it be $10 per sport or in the hundreds.

Participation fees for high school athletics can be found in almost every state today, although practices vary from state to state and community to community.

California, since 2011, has been the only state with a statewide law expressly prohibiting public schools from requiring participation fees for school activities, including athletics. Many other states regulate or authorize such fees.

In Colorado, all school districts impose participation fees on some level, according to the Colorado High School Activities Association, while 69% of Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association schools reported charging to participate.

In August, The Dallas Morning News reported that at least six Texas districts are imposing participation fees this school year, including Midlothian and Hays for the first time.

The financial cost of participation is weighed against the benefits schools and families associate with education-based athletics.

The 2026 NFHS Participation Survey found a record 8.4 million high school students participated in athletics during the last school year, indicating fees aren’t stopping many student-athletes from participating.

Research has routinely pointed to academic, social and developmental benefits associated with participation in education-based athletics, as students have opportunities to learn, build relationships, develop life skills and strengthen their connection to school.

Parents agree, reporting positive experiences with schoolbased athletics and activities.

The NFHS recently released a National Parent Benchmark Study that found 96% of parents would encourage their child to participate again, while 93% support continued investment in school-based athletics and activities. In addition, 93% rated their experience as good or excellent, among other key findings.

A 2026 American Enterprise Institute study of 262,600 Indiana high school students found varsity athletes had nearly 20% fewer absences than non-athletes. Absences dropped further during athletes’ sports seasons, suggesting participation was associated with improved attendance.

National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association (NIAAA) Executive Director Phil Rison said the value of education- based athletics is unmatched for high school students and their families.

“When you look at the overall budget of a school system, you’re talking about 2% to 3% of that overall budget is probably spent on education-based athletics,” Rison said. “So, when you look at the value that you get out of that 2% or 3%, that’s unbelievable to the fact of the student engagement and to be able to have opportunities for the student-athletes.”

For school administrators, the question is often how to balance the cost of providing those opportunities with the desire to make them available to students.

Several high school athletics directors pointed to the proliferation of fees in youth sports as a factor in how families view participation fees at the high school level. In 2025, Aspen Institute’s Project Play reported that the average U.S. sports family spent $1,016 on their child’s primary sport in 2024, a 46% increase since 2019.

While participation fees remain part of the landscape in many communities, some schools are finding that eliminating them can also be a way to invest in participation.

The Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) has tracked participation fees among its member schools since 2004. It releases its data to the public annually to help paint a picture of the current landscape in the state.

This past school year, the MHSAA found that only 38% of the schools that responded to the survey charged participation fees — a 2% drop from the prior year and the lowest number since the 2004-05 school year. A total of 703 MHSAA member schools, or 93% of members, responded to the survey.

MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl said he’s seen schools use the decision not to charge participation fees as a way to help attract new students, which in turn could help offset the revenue lost when fees are eliminated. Michigan doesn’t require students to attend their local public schools where they reside, through “school choice” laws, which makes attracting students a top concern – especially for funding purposes.

“Some superintendents said if we market our school district to families and do away with participation fees, if that attracts even a few more students, that brings in much more funding,” Uyl said. “Many see it as a point of pride, and that if they get six more kids they’re actually coming out ahead and not having to risk the PR hit of charging kids and families to play.”

At Lincoln Consolidated Schools in Michigan, the district had charged participation fees for more than two decades before dropping them this school year. The school is making up for “about 60%” of the fee revenue by increasing ticket prices by “a few dollars.”

LCS Athletic Director Chris Westfall said being in a small community with a supportive school board helped get the change made, and that the school hopes to attract more students with the move. But more importantly, he said, it’s about providing opportunities for high school students.

“The kids that aren’t paying are just blind to you,” Westfall said. “They’re the kids who never come out, that never ask, that just kind of silently disappear. We’re looking at next year’s data to say, ‘all right, how many kids joined?’ We’ve gotten a lot of anecdotal feedback. We’ve gotten a lot of positive responses from the community. What it means for our participation going forward is really going to be the indicator. It’s been a goal for a long time, and just about finding an economic pathway.”

While not a widespread phenomenon, other school districts outside Michigan are making similar moves to eliminate fees.

In Virginia, Culpeper County Public Schools announced July 9 that it was eliminating participation fees for middle and high school student-athletes beginning this year. Previously, families paid a participation fee of $100 per student for each high school athletic team and $90 per middle school team.

To offset the costs, free student passes to CCPS athletic home contests are no longer being offered. Instead, students can pay $50 per season for passes or $125 for the full school year.

In Barberton, Ohio, the community has come together to help eliminate fees.

This past August, Barberton City Schools announced that all its pay-to-participate fees would be covered by the local community foundation. The district had planned to impose fees of up to $100 per student at its middle and high schools for the first time this school year. After the announcement, donations to the Barberton Student Opportunity to Participate Fund surged, allowing the foundation to cover 100% of the costs.

NIAAA Deputy Executive Director Becky Moran said it’s important to keep in mind that no school wants to impose fees and that there are strong reasons when they do.

“It’s not ‘we’re charging you because all the other schools in the area charge you,’” Moran said. “It’s because they want to ensure that they don’t have to take programming away or reduce the number of opportunities for student-athletes, or reduce the quality of experiences. … It’s a way for them to maintain and grow programming for student-athletes instead of taking those experiences away.”

As participation fees remain part of the high school sports landscape, schools and communities continue to explore ways to limit the financial barriers they can create. For some, that means finding new sources of funding, and for others it means eliminating fees altogether.

Regardless of the approach, the goal remains the same: keeping education-based athletic opportunities accessible to students.

Jordan Morey is manager of communications and media relations for the NFHS.