The impact of big-time athletics on graduation rates

Conclusions

Using the same universities with high-quality sports programs studied by McCormick and Tinsley, this paper qualifies their conclusion that big-time football enhances the academic mission through an advertising effect. While the advertising effect of an established big-time football winning tradition may attract a higher quality student to a university, there is a cost for some students once they enroll. Consistent with the adverse effect on output of faculty publications found in the Shughart, Tollison, and Goff study, this paper offers evidence that athletic success comes at the expense of some students who fail to graduate. Faced with the decision to study or engage in entertainment, the opportunity cost to students is higher when their football program is successful. If the football team is nationally ranked, there is greater incentive to talk football in the dorm, attend home games, cut Friday classes to take road trips to away games, including bowl games, and in general put off studying. In contrast, the evidence suggests that a big-time basketball program is unrelated to the graduation rate.