In a bold move last week, the University of Kentucky made John Calipari the highest paid coach in NCAA history by signing him to an eight-year, $31.5 million contract. Calipari’s salary is paid for exclusively by the Kentucky basketball program’s exorbitant budget. But we can’t help but wonder whether some of the new coach’s salary could be better used to help the university academically in a time when both the state of Kentucky and the nation in general are in a fiscal crisis.

It is clear that the University of Kentucky athletic department is a business first — one that brings in more than enough revenue to pay for Calipari’s salary. Just in ticket sales alone last year, Kentucky basketball made the athletic department more than $14 million. The issue at hand is whether some of this money could be reallocated to assist the school, which is struggling to pay qualified professors and provide financial aid. While Kentucky basketball pays for itself and is not taking money out of tax payers’ pockets, what good is an outstanding basketball program if there are no undergraduates who can afford to come enjoy it?

Calipari’s controversial hiring is not an isolated incident — high-profile coaches often are amongst the top earners in states across the country. Last month, University of Connecticut basketball coach Jim Calhoun, an employee of the state paid $1.6 million per year, came under fire for standing up against a political activist who suggested the coach give some of his salary back to the struggling state. Calhoun said that he wouldn’t contribute a dime. Instead, he pointed out that the UConn basketball program makes more than $12 million for the university annually.

But how many of those millions actually end up benefiting the state university?

There is no denying that major Division I basketball programs such as Kentucky and Connecticut have become a minor league for the NBA: hosting developing players with a goal in mind, shuttling them off to the next level to make millions while giving the program national recognition. Developing professional caliber players requires professional salaries, and the combination of the two brings in revenue in the form of ticket sales, advertisements, merchandise and concessions.

Cornell is in a different boat than the Kentuckys and UConns of the world. The University’s endowment and financial assets are responsible in part for funding athletics, while public sports programs have the state’s budget supporting them.

We can’t fault these “big league” programs for trying to make money; after all, college sports are now a very lucrative business. Have college athletics lost sight of the “college” aspect of their mission?

Given the recession and how many people are struggling to make ends meet — let alone pay for college — where do these coaches’ salaries cross the line? College athletic departments across the country must reconsider their priorities, and should invest a greater portion of their revenue back into academia.