ISU football season ticket sales for 2007 broke 35,000, the athletics department announced Thursday, marking a 14 percent increase from sales in 2006 (30,728).

The official count stands at 35,076 tickets sold – a 56 percent increase over the 2004 total of 22,430.

“This is an amazing achievement, especially considering the dizzying pace at which it has been accomplished,” said ISU Athletics Director Jamie Pollard in a press release.

The goal of 35,000 was reached four years ahead of the 2011 goal set by Pollard in last year’s plan titled “The Next Big Step.”

His release was a document outlining the status of the ISU athletic department and a plan to change the direction of ISU athletics that was full of short-term and long-term goals.

One of his main goals was for the program to improve its financial status. Currently, Iowa State ranks last in the Big 12 with a budget of $33.8 million. Texas is first with a budget of $93.1 million.

Pollard has repeatedly stated the importance of selling season tickets, which, he said, is one of the greatest revenue generators.

The athletic department released the plan “We’ve Taken Some Big Steps” Thursday, which takes a look at where Iowa State has come since Pollard released the original plan about one year ago.

During the last 12 months, we met several of our goals. The academic performance of our student-athletes continues to be a hallmark of our program, but we have also made great strides in improving our financial health,” said Pollard in the release. “However, we still have a long ways to go in improving our athletics competitiveness.”

Iowa State finished 11th in the Big 12 Conference Commissioner’s Cup in 2007, which is an annual rating of the athletic programs of each Big 12 school. They had finished in 12th the previous six seasons, and have never finished higher than ninth since the award was first given in 1995. Iowa State ranked 73rd in the Division I Director’s Cup, which was an improvement over their 2006 ranking of 97th.

According to “We’ve Taken Some Big Steps,” the athletic department achieved three of the eight goals outlined in “The Next Big Step.”

As for the future, the document focuses on the renovation of Jack Trice Stadium and enhancements for Hilton Coliseum.

The $20 million initial phase of the Jack Trice renovation is set to begin in November and will improve restrooms, traffic flow, concessions, disabled seating and double the number of concourse suites.

-Here’s a breakdown of the status of the goals that athletics director Jamie Pollard outlined in his original plan “The Next Big Step.”

1.) Record a cumulative grade point average for student-athletes that is above 3.0 and higher than the ISU student body. >>>> YES

2.) Graduate student-athletes at a higher percentage rate than the ISU student body. >>>> YES

3.) Win a minimum of five Big 12 team championships by 2011 (in half the time it took for Iowa State to win its first five league titles). >>>> NO

4.) Finish in the upper half of the Big 12 Conference Commissioner’s Cup (all sports rankings) by 2011. >>>> NO

5.) Place in the top 50 schools nationally in the Division I Director’s Cup rankings in 2007 and in the top 25 by 2011. >>>> NO

6.) Win the annual Hy-Vee Cy-Hawk series competition between Iowa State University and the University of Iowa. >>>> NO

7.) Increase our number of season football ticket sales to more than 30,000 by 2006 and more than 35,000 by 2011. >>>> YES

8.) Increase the number of National Cyclone Club members to 7,500 by 2007 and to more than 10,000 by 2011. >>>> NO