What a winning sports programs do for applications

[orguy]

I hope I've posted this interesting article in the correct place.

Good off season discussion.

http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news;_ylt=A ... &type=lgns

Winning football program is undoubtedly good for SMU's academic standing. Something Pig PYE and his cronies never understood as apps continued to precipitously decline in the late 80's/early 90's.

[orguy]

i.e what a winning sports program does for academics

[Mexmustang]

The simple question is why was a study necessary to understand this?

[NavyCrimson]

Agree. There have been countless articles on this subject but the eggheads in our college & university systems tend to be slow learners at times.

[RGV Pony]

i.e what a winning sports program does for academics

you can also edit the title of the thread

[DiamondM75]

i.e what a winning sports program does for academics

or another title might be

What winning sports programs do for academics.

[SMU Football Blog]

I'll do you one better. Similar studies have been done on donations by alumni that show the same results.

One of the things that is keeping SMU where it is in the rankings is the alarming low percentage of alumni that donate to SMU. While the alumni that donate do so in large amounts, the number that do is low.

The US News and World Report's formula for college rankings include the percentage of alumni that donate as a criteria.

If we win, we will have more alumni donate and that improve our US News rankings.

[StallionsModelT]

The evidence is unequivocal. Hopefully with the recent hirings of Matt Doherty and June Jones SMU is starting to recognize and appreciate what quality athletic programs can do for the entire university.

[couch 'em]

While the alumni that donate do so in large amounts, the number that do is low.

And many of them are old. What happens when they all die off?

[Mexmustang]

I really feel that alumns that were student after the '80's don't feel, for want of a better word, "school spirit". There in nothing to bind them to the school while they were there, other the lower Greenville, and their fraternities. There was not enthusiasm for the school, no bragging rights, no one activity bonding the student body (and alumns) together. The real hidden cost of a pathetic athletic program. And yes, those of us that graduated over 30 years ago are becoming fewer and fewer.

[NavyCrimson]

... One of the things that is keeping SMU where it is in the rankings is the alarming low percentage of alumni that donate to SMU.

I always wondered why it was so low. Removing the athletic programs from the equation, anyone know why? Because - compared to other schools - something is surely missing at ours.

[SMUPhil]

I think part of it may be because that SMU recruits nationwide. You have a LOT of students from Florida, California, Illinois, Virginia, etc. Many of them come to SMU for 4 years, then move back home or somewhere else, geographically removing them from SMU and its community. I'd be willing to bet that most of our donors live in Dallas, or at least somewhere in Texas.

Just a thought, don't take this as fact.

[Mexmustang]

I am sure that that contributes...but, it also makes the development of "loyalty" during the student years more important.

[couch 'em]

Tried to find a comprehensive list of university alumni giving rates and couldn't find one, but I did find a partial list of NC State 'research peer institutions'. Interesting results.

http://www2.acs.ncsu.edu/UPA/peers/current/research_intensive/alumgiv.htm

Institution Alumni Giving Rate
Princeton University 60%
Duke University 52%
Yale University 44%
Harvard University 41%
University of Pennsylvania 39%
Brown University 39%
Stanford University 38%
Massachusetts Institute of Technology 37%
Washington University In St Louis 37%
Emory University 37%
Rice University 36%
Columbia University In The City of New York 35%
University of Southern California 35%
Cornell University-Statutory Colleges 34%
Johns Hopkins University 34%
Brandeis University 34%
University of Chicago 33%
Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus 31%
North Carolina State University at Raleigh 30%
California Institute of Technology 29%
Northwestern University 29%
Vanderbilt University 27%
Tulane University of Louisiana 26%
Carnegie Mellon University 25%
University of Virginia-Main Campus 25%
Virginia Polytechnic Institute And State Univ 24%
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 23%
University of Nebraska at Lincoln 23%
Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus 21%
Syracuse University 20%
University of Rochester 19%
Purdue University-Main Campus 19%
Texas A & M University 18%
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor 17%
University of Washington-Seattle Campus 17%
University of California-Santa Barbara 17%
University of Florida 17%
University of Oregon 17%
Case Western Reserve University 16%
Ohio State University-Main Campus 16%
University of Pittsburgh-Main Campus 16%
Iowa State University 16%
The University of Texas at Austin 15%
University of Georgia 15%
Rutgers University-New Brunswick 15%
Michigan State University 15%
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities 15%
University of California-Berkeley 14%
University of California-Los Angeles 14%
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 14%
University of Wisconsin-Madison 14%
University of Maryland-College Park 14%
University of Iowa 14%
Indiana University-Bloomington 13%
University of California-Davis 12%
University of California-Irvine 11%
New York University 10%
Suny at Stony Brook 10%
University of California-San Diego 9%
University of Colorado at Boulder 9%
University of Missouri-Columbia 9%
Suny at Buffalo 9%
University of Arizona 7%

[RGV Pony]

Damn what does Arizona do to [deleted] off 93% of their alumni?