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Touchdowns and test scores: exploring the relationship between athletics and academics

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  • F. G. Mixon
  • L. J. TreviNO
  • T. C. Minto

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between college football success and SAT scores using an updated data series on football winning percentages. The finding here of a positive and significant relationship supports the idea that collegiate athletics, namely football, serves the institution's admissions process. Selective institutions are able to enhance the quality of their student populations. The spinoff benefit of winning teams is such a well-known phenomenon among university administrators that they even have a name for it - 'the Flutie factor,' for the 33 percent increase in applications that Doug Flutie helped bring Boston College when he was a football star there in the early 1980s. (Allen, 1999: 2)

Suggested Citation

  • F. G. Mixon & L. J. TreviNO & T. C. Minto, 2004. "Touchdowns and test scores: exploring the relationship between athletics and academics," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(7), pages 421-424.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:apeclt:v:11:y:2004:i:7:p:421-424
    DOI: 10.1080/1350485042000201906
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Bremmer, Dale S. & Kesselring, Randall G., 1993. "The advertising effect of university athletic success: A reappraisal of the evidence," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 409-421.
    2. Tucker, Irvin III & Amato, Louis, 1993. "Does big-time success in football or basketball affect SAT scores?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 12(2), pages 177-181, June.
    3. McCormick, Robert E & Tensley, Maurice, 1987. "Athletics versus Academics? Evidence from SAT Scores," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 95(5), pages 1103-1116, October.
    4. Long, James E & Caudill, Steven B, 1991. "The Impact of Participation in Intercollegiate Athletics on Income and Graduation," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 73(3), pages 525-531, August.
    5. Ernest T. Pascarella & Rachel Truckenmiller & Amaury Nora & Patrick T. Terenzini & Marcia Edison & Linda Serra Hagedorn, 1999. "Cognitive Impacts of Intercollegiate Athletic Participation," The Journal of Higher Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 70(1), pages 1-26, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Malcolm Getz & John Siegfried, 2010. "What Does Intercollegiate Athletics Do To or For Colleges and Universities?," Vanderbilt University Department of Economics Working Papers 1005, Vanderbilt University Department of Economics.
    2. Jerome Segura III & Jonathan Willner, 2019. "Athleticism in NCAA D-III: It Ain’t Only Football That Matters," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 20(7), pages 929-958, October.
    3. Austin F. Eggers & Peter A. Groothuis, 2021. "The Impact of Winning an NCAA Men's Basketball or Football Championship on Academic Quality," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 41(2), pages 263-275.
    4. J. D. Pitts & B. Evans, 2016. "The role of conference externalities and other factors in determining the annual recruiting rankings of football bowl subdivision (FBS) teams," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(33), pages 3164-3174, July.
    5. D. Randall Smith, 2009. "College Football and Student Quality: An Advertising Effect or Culture and Tradition?," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(2), pages 553-579, April.
    6. Richard Adkisson & James Peach, 2008. "Non-resident enrollment and non-resident tuition at land grant colleges and universities," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(1), pages 75-88.
    7. Trevor Collier & Nancy Haskell & Kurt W. Rotthoff & Alaina Baker, 2020. "The “Cinderella Effect†: The Value of Unexpected March Madness Runs as Advertising for the Schools," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 21(8), pages 783-807, December.
    8. Kerianne Lawson, 2021. "The Lasting Impact of NCAA Sanctions: SMU and the Death Penalty," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 22(8), pages 946-981, December.
    9. Devin G. Pope & Jaren C. Pope, 2009. "The Impact of College Sports Success on the Quantity and Quality of Student Applications," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 75(3), pages 750-780, January.
    10. Jonathan Willner, 2019. "Private Universities and NCAA D-III Athletics as a General Recruiting Tool," International Advances in Economic Research, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 25(3), pages 293-307, August.
    11. Robert Kirby Goidel & John Maxwell Hamilton, 2006. "Strengthening Higher Education Through Gridiron Success? Public Perceptions of the Impact of National Football Championships on Academic Quality," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 87(4), pages 851-862, December.
    12. Austin F. Eggers & Peter A. Groothuis & Parker Redding & Kurt W. Rotthoff & Michael Solimini, 2020. "Universities Behaving Badly: The Impact of Athletic Malfeasance on Student Quality and Enrollment," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 21(1), pages 87-100, January.
    13. Jerome Segura & Jonathan Willner, 2018. "The Game Is Good at the Top," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 19(5), pages 645-676, June.
    14. Jody W. Lipford & Jerry K. Slice, 2017. "Cost spreading in college athletic spending in the United States: estimates and implications," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(4), pages 379-393, July.

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