Football success creates a stronger academic environment

[Liver]

Case in point: Nick Saban at Alabama. The University of Alabama has improved in EVERY meaningful metric of academic achievement since Saban took over the football program.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomvan...everyone-wants-to-go-to-alabama/#2e3f4bdf393a

Football success increases the number of applications, particularly out-of-state applications. This generates more money in the form of tuition and donations. And, increased applications means increased selectivity which means your student body is academically stronger when football wins.

Football is the economic engine that drives academic improvement in the modern university world.

 

[Liver]

and here's a recent article about Clemson and the massive capital improvements they have been able to fund, beyond sports, through their phenomenal recent success in football.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/spor...7bbd53d2b5d_story.html?utm_term=.4953670266d4

 

[sackman]

I know it's popular to use Alabama as an example, but what Saban has done there is unprecedented. I do appreciate the fact that the administration at Alabama has used their status as the Gods of College Football to help elevate other areas of the University. Not every school would do that, given the same opportunity.

 

[Buffnik]

The great thing about CU is that it's a university with innate advantages money can't buy. The beauty of the campus and surrounding views, the #1 college town in America, and being in the center of the country to draw from everywhere to one of the most popular states.

With that, it has always been that CU enjoys tremendous success in all programs (Top 25 rankings with regularity) by keeping facilities nice/current and coach salaries competitive. CU doesn't have to go crazy by setting new national benchmarks in spending to achieve its goals -- it only has to remain committed to not being a place that does things 2nd rate/ on the cheap..

 

[Liver]

additionally, I uses the 'bama example specifically because of the incredible gains they have seen in academic quality. Alabama has never had a reputation as a strong academic institution. It never drew many students from beyond the SEC footprint. The changes are profound. They have improved almost all of their various academic programs and increased the quality of the student body and the faculty, all on the backs of the football program. The point is not that we should replicate alabama. The point is that, since we are already starting at a far better place academically, we can continue to grow and excel by investing in a successful football program.

 

[Buffs35]

I know it's popular to use Alabama as an example, but what Saban has done there is unprecedented. I do appreciate the fact that the administration at Alabama has used their status as the Gods of College Football to help elevate other areas of the University. Not every school would do that, given the same opportunity.

Happened at Florida too, so Alabama is not an exception.

http://businessofcollegesports.com/2011/07/11/can-we-measure-the-effect-of-national-championships/

https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/p/po...e-of-college.pdf?c=jsas;idno=6776111.0002.108

 

[Buffnik]

Happened at Florida too, so Alabama is not an exception.

http://businessofcollegesports.com/2011/07/11/can-we-measure-the-effect-of-national-championships/

https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/p/po...e-of-college.pdf?c=jsas;idno=6776111.0002.108

As I posted in the big thread, there have been examples at Boston College and Georgetown.

There is also the case of athletics saving Gonzaga University: http://www.espn.com/blog/collegebas...ll-program-helped-gonzaga-university-flourish

From that piece:
Donations are at an all-time high -- a capital campaign launched just last year already has received $226 million of its $250 million -- as are both applications and the school’s student profile. With more people seeking entry into Gonzaga, the school changed its admissions process in 2003, abandoning the less selective rolling admissions plan and going to a pooling program in which students are given a hard deadline to apply and are considered collectively.

In large part due to that shift, students today come to campus with an average 3.71 GPA and 1290 SAT score, up from 3.54 and 1159 in 1998.

And there's also the cases in basketball of UConn and Villanova. They lose money on sports from a direct budget analysis, but the gains made by the university from the exposure of their programs has made it a great investment: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-financial-impact-of-championship-basketball/

Athletic success has surely helped boost both colleges' popularity with prospective students as much as it burnishes their brands with benefactors. About 8,500 students applied to Villanova when it earned its first title in 1985, and that figure hit an all-time high of 17,266 this year. It has raised $515 million of a $600 million capital campaign that started in 2013.

Applications to UConn reached a record high of 34,019 this year, and undergraduate enrollment is at 23,407, nearly double 2001's 13,251. During that time, Uconn's endowment jumped from $165 million to $384 million.

 

[Buffs35]

As I posted in the big thread, there have been examples at Boston College and Georgetown.
.

You except me to remember what you posted in a different thread? As a point of practice, I try to forget what you have posted before I'm done reading it.

 

[Duff Man]

Could also point out which program has been the most successful in the Pac-12 over the last five years.

 

[AllStarBuffs]

Let's be honest, who wouldn't want to go to a college that's competing for a national championship every single season?

 

[Bison]

Raise your hand if you did factor in athletics when considering your college options.

 

[Liver]

Raise your hand if you did factor in athletics when considering your college options.

I totally did. I was already hooked on watching the Buffs play before I even got to Boulder.

 

[MtnBuff]

You can talk about Bama being an outlier or an Ohio State or a Clemson.

Lets look locally. They may not have been as spectacular as the Tide donations but convince me that CU winning 10 games last year didn't make it easier for the entire school, not just the athletic department to get the attention of donors and loosen up their wallets at bit.

To start with when we were losing it would have been harder to even get them on campus. Win games and everyone is having fun, invite them to see a game from a luxury sweet and you have a 3 hour window to pitch your programs. When everyone is positive and having fun that $250,000 chem lab upgrade sounds like a better idea.

Also a lot of big donors are the kind of people for whom success is an important element of their lives, they are competitive by nature. When they can proudly wear their CU sweatshirt around their wealthy business associates they feel that connection, again much easier to take the next step and add to the donation.

I would be interested to see what the breakdown is in terms of new or one time donations during last football season compared to prior seasons when we were losing, not just for athletics but for academic programs as well.

 

[TimmyDUBs]

Raise your hand if you did factor in athletics when considering your college options.

I was between Santa Barbara and Boulder and definitely considered the excitement of having a great football team as a great "pro" for CU

 

[FlaBuff]

Raise your hand if you did factor in athletics when considering your college options.

<<raising my hand>>

 

[Ringer]

Athletics and overall big school stuff (with a medium-sized school social vibe; you see friends everywhere just walking around) was definitely a factor for my girl to decide on attending CU from California. She graduates after this upcoming year; I'm gonna miss having an excuse to go to Boulder on a whim during a free weekend.