College Sports Integral in Admission Rates

A college sports team is the most powerful marketing tool a university can have in increasing freshmen applicant rates. College sports fans have proven that their interest in a team's athletic prowess often leads to their decision to apply to that respective university. A recent article in the Boston Globe (here) showed that since joining the ACC, Boston College's admission rates from the 6 ACC states (FL,GA,MD,NC,SC,VA) have shot up 30%. In addition to this recent surge, BC saw a sharp rise in applicants after Doug Flutie won the Heisman trophy in 1984, commonly dubbed "the Flutie effect. " (see link for other positive affects sports teams have on colleges). Through their involvement in the conference, BC has a much larger footprint in this part of the country than it ever did before," states one resident of NC, and graduate of UNC Chapel hill.

Theres more too this correlation, however, than the assumption that these students want to go to BC, or any other school just to watch sports games. Theres a psychology behind it that when a student watches an athletic team dominate on the sports field, they believe that carries over into the classroom. Michael Lovagliaa (University of Iowa), has studied the topic in depth: "There's a halo effect," he says. You think about them, so you assume the school must be good. But you may have thought about them only because they were beating your favorite team." Students take pride in their respective institutions accomplishments around the country. Sports, with its national TV and media coverage, is such a large part of that accomplishment. University of Miami's string of national football championships has been largely responsible for putting the school on the map, especially in far away areas, like the northeast, where the school draws an incredible amount of applicants each year.


But don't think the idea that college athletics has the ultimate say in whether or not a student attends the school. Its really other factors, primarily academics, that persuade students to matriculate. University of Miami doesn't fall short of this standard either, ranked 52nd in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. I know that personally, while I enjoy attending UM's sporting events and being a 'Cane, coming here wouldn't have been an option without its commensurate academic reputation. This stands true for most students--it starts with the sports team, which then leads to a campus visit thats sparks even more interest by showing a complete picture of what a school has to offer. After all, UM has much more to offer then just good sports teams.