The University of Colorado has loaned the athletic department $10 million dollars to help account for a budget shortfall as the school is making plans for some pretty big renovations and improvements to the athletic facilities. Much of the $16 million shortfall was created when the CU made the leap from the Big 12 to the Pac-12 last summer. On top of that, the University gave the athletic department "lunch money", that does not have to be paid back.
In addition to the loan, the Boulder campus and the CU system each gave the athletic department $3 million that doesn't need to be paid back to help cover the cost of the move because it benefited the entire CU community, affiliating the school with esteemed academic peers such as Stanford, Cal and UCLA.
CU vice chancellor for strategic relations, Frances Draper, said that "the faculty overall were pretty darn supportive of moving over to the Pac-12", which was larger due to the increased stature and access to research dollars that a move to the new conference allowed.
Athletic director Mike Bohn had previously mentioned that he was working towards making announcements on a new permanent indoor practice facility that would be a part of or near Dal Ward as well as improvements to the Coors Event Center, including the weight room and team meeting space.
Once the $20 million plus a year from the Pac-12 TV deal kicks in, paying back the University shouldn't be a problem. Until then (and after as well, of course) donate, donate, donate!