E&W Blog

Today, the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development held a hearing to examine the rise of sports betting and how even a small wager can quickly lead to falling behind in school, debt, and even addiction.

Vice Chair Michael Baumgartner (R-WA) started the hearing by highlighting how too many students often gamble away their future.

“An undergraduate survey released last month found that 31 percent of male students and 25 percent of female students know someone who had experienced ‘financial distress or academic fallout from online wagering losses.’ Students who had gambled online were 10 percent more likely to report having struggled to pay for basic expenses such as medication, transportation, and housing than students who had never gambled. Another survey alarmingly found that more than one in five students had even used financial aid to place bets,” he said.

Witnesses discussed how colleges and universities are addressing substance abuse, but gambling addiction remains a blind spot.

“[W]hile standard student health intake protocols frequently assess for alcohol, illicit substance use, and general depression, only 2 percent of college students report ever being asked about their gambling behaviors by a campus professional compared to 16.6 percent who have been asked about their alcohol or substance use and 37 percent who have been asked about their mental health. This absence of routine screening allows problem gambling to remain invisible until students face catastrophic financial loss or acute psychological crisis,” said Ms. Cindy Clouner, MPH, LSW, OCPS, Managing Director at the Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Drug Misuse Prevention and Recovery at The Ohio State University.

Dr. Lindsey Mortenson, Chief Mental Health Officer, Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, and Executive Director of University Health & Counseling at the University of Michigan, told Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-PA) that mental health professionals often lack the training to recognize and treat gambling addiction.

“Addiction is a subspecialty in mental health counseling and…psychiatry…the very tiny bit of gambling that appears in any curriculum is way outdated and does not reflect the contemporary sports betting online betting era,” she explained.

Rep. Mark Harris (R-NC) questioned Dr. Daniel Durkin, Associate Professor at the University of Mississippi, about how sports betting has exposed student-athletes to harassment and raised concerns about the integrity of college athletics.

“Let’s say you’re a college basketball player. There’s a possibility your roommate might get into some gambling trouble and might come to you and say ‘hey, I’m not asking you to throw the whole game. Could you just miss a free throw or two?’ So that temptation becomes so ever present, particularly if it’s coming from someone they care about,” said Dr. Durkin.

Student-athletes should be focused on competing and earning a degree, not dealing with pressure from gamblers.

Bottom line: Sports gambling has exploded in recent years, making it easier than ever for college students to place bets that can quickly escalate into academic and financial harm. The Committee is examining the dangers of sports gambling and how universities can equip students to make informed, responsible decisions.