"Jonny Durango" wrote ...
I am president of a club at my school that has a budget of about
$20,000 to spend on field recording equipment. This equipment
would be used to record audio only for on-site video shoots such
as short movies, commercials and news, as well as live music
direct from a mixer feed or by using mics. We would like this
equipment to be of the same caliber that you might see if working
for a TV station or big budget film crew. Remember, this is for
audio only, no video. After talking to some local sound crews,
I have a very rough base for a budget and was hoping that you
all could help me fill in the holes (ie. mixer, mics, belt power,
blimps, etc.)

Very stongly recommend posting this question on the newsgroup
specific for your application:
news:rec.arts.movies.production.sound despite the name, both
video and film sound recording are discussed daily by working
professionals in the field, including high-end feature production.
It is the most on-topic and professional of the ~dozen newsgroups
that I read.

There are some very well-established favorites in the area of
microphones that you would do well to consider. You have a
very respectable budget for location sound and you really should
get first-class advice from the people who do it every day.