For many years, athletic administrators facing major financial decisions have felt kind of like pilots flying through bad weather. They know what's happening on their own plane--how much they're spending and where it's going--but once they look out the window to see what everyone else is doing, the picture gets cloudy.

Now, thanks to the NCAA and the National Association of College and University Business Officers, Division I athletic directors have a way to compare their own financial data with groups of other schools in a user-friendly format called "dashboard indicators," which were unveiled in late May. "This project is a tool athletic directors can use to ensure better stewardship over the assets they've been entrusted with," says Drew Paluf, Assistant Vice President for Finance and Controller at the University of Notre Dame.

"It's an opportunity for athletic directors to see financial data a bit differently by looking at it against peer data or over time," he continues. "Plus, if you're seeing data in this format with graphs and charts, something may pop out that wouldn't have in a hard-bound annual financial statement."

Users can choose from more than 25 data items, including revenue streams such as student fees, ticket sales, and rights fees, and expense areas such as coaches' compensation, administrative compensation, severance agreements, and facilities. Broader institutional data items such as graduation rates are also available. While information on individual schools will not be available through the system, users can choose groups they wish to compare their schools to (like a conference) or they can generate groups based on the data itself, such as the top 25 percent by revenues or the top 10 percent by graduation rate.

Now that administrators have had several months to review the project, how do they intend to use the new financial data? "It might lead an athletic director to ask a question like, 'Why is our revenue in this area higher or lower than this peer group?'" Paluf offers. "The answer may be something simple like stadium seating capacity or different contractual arrangements with opponents. Or maybe they'll realize there are other, better ways to raise their revenue."

"As various situations arise on a campus, whether it's a project or a need on campus, I think it will be really helpful to go to this database and see how our school compares to a group of peers," says Dan Radakovich, Athletic Director at Georgia Tech. "It will be interesting to find out revenues received from specific areas like fundraising or student fees and see how we compare. The same holds true for spending in areas like personnel and recruiting."

Mike Alden, Athletic Director at the University of Missouri, offers a specific scenario. "We should now have the ability to identify the scholarship costs associated with athletic programs at peer institutions, like what percentage of the budget schools are utilizing to cover tuition, fees, books, and room and board for all of their student-athletes," he says. "When we look at ways to counterbalance those expenses, maybe through annual giving or a priority seating program, it's helpful to see what our peer institutions are doing.

"Most of our comparisons will be with the Big 12 Conference, of course," Alden continues. "But because of where we're located we will also take a look at the Big 10. Another comparison group for us will be the public institutions in the American Association of Universities, which includes 34 top public schools. That's an important group to our faculty and one we often measure ourselves against as an institution."

Institutions must also consider how they will circulate the dashboard data. At Notre Dame, Paluf says access will likely be limited to the people who prepare the NCAA and Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act reports that make up the heart of the database. At Missouri, Alden presented the project at a Chancellor's staff meeting that included representatives from the provost's office, public affairs, development, and alumni relations. "This data allows us to educate more of our people internally about what we're trying to do in intercollegiate athletics," he says.

Beyond its use for comparisons to other schools, Paluf believes the dashboard indicators will prove to be a useful tool for identifying trends. "As the database continues to be built, administrators are going to be able to see how they've progressed year to year," he says. "Let's say you decide to change your expenditures. With the dashboard indicators you'll be able to see in a year or two whether the change has had the effect you wanted, or if you need a different strategy."

A more global benefit to the project--having more accurate data to analyze the financial arms race in Division I athletics--is also on athletic directors' radars. "This is only my opinion, but I'm not sure the financial model in college athletics right now is sustainable, especially since expenses are outpacing revenues," Alden says. "The information in this database will allow us to bring more light to that issue so we can see what we might do about it. You can speculate whether we need to downsize, look at other sources of revenue, or put limits on certain things. Or should universities, perhaps, make more of an investment in athletics?

"Those kinds of questions are out there," Alden continues. "And with the addition of this transparent information, we'll be able to see what's really going on. Otherwise, I think if we keep going down the path we're on, we'll all face some serious challenges."