CLEMSON, SC – OCTOBER 22: Clemson fans watch the Clemson Tigers against the North Carolina Tar Heels during their game at Memorial Stadium on October 22, 2011 in Clemson, South Carolina. (Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images)

Ahead of what promises to be another title-contending season for the Clemson football team, the school said it is tabling a proposal that would have charged university students a fee for sitting in the lower level of Memorial Stadium.

The proposal would have given students the option to buy season tickets for guaranteed lower level seating for a fee of $225. Students wanting to avoid the fee could still sit in the upper levels for free on a first-come, first-serve basis. This proposal was first put forth in April, but students expressed worry over its potential to segregate the student section based on socio-economic status.

Tickets to Clemson football games will likely be a very hot commodity this fall. The Tigers are coming of an appearance in the finals of the College Football Playoff where they fell just short of the title, falling to Alabama 45-40.

Clemson did lose a lot of talent to the NFL draft, most notably defensive ends Shaq Lawson and Kevin Dodd, but the Tigers do return Heisman-hopeful quarterback DeShaun Watson, stud running back Wayne Gallman, and most of their receiving corps.

Watson alone is worth the price of admission, and students should count themselves fortunate they get to see one of college football’s most exciting players and one of its best teams up close for “free.” Of course, while the students may not be directly paying for football tickets, rest assured the university is till getting its cut. The school recently announced its tuition rates for the 2016-17 school year, and surprise, they are going up.

Undergraduates from South Carolina will pay an extra 3.14 percent, or $218 on average per semester, while out-of-staters will pay an extra 4.27 percent, or $700 per semester on average. That translates to per semester averages of $7,159 for tuition and student fees for in-staters, and $17,100 for out-of-staters.

Meal plans will rise 4 percent per semester on average, from $1,860 to $1,940, and housing will go up an average of 6 percent, from $2,698 to $2,865.

It is not clear if these rising charges are a result of the football ticket decision, but those free tickets are not without their costs.

[Yahoo]

About Ben Sieck

Ben is a recent graduate of Butler University where he served as Managing Editor and Co-Editor-in-Chief for the Butler Collegian. He currently resides in Indianapolis.