Does becoming a Member of the Football Bowl Subdivision Increase Institutional Attractiveness to Potential Students
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Does becoming a Member of the Football Bowl Subdivision Increase Institutional Attractiveness to Potential Students Willis A. Jones
# Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014
Abstract In recent years, a number of colleges and universities have made the decision to pursue membership in the NCAA’s Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) with the idea that participating in higher profile intercollegiate football can help attract students to their institution. This belief, however, has not been empirically examined. Using difference-in-differences estimation, this study examined freshmen application trends at three colleges and universities (Florida Atlantic University, Florida International University, and Western Kentucky University) which moved from the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) to the FBS in the mid2000s relative to similar FCS institutions which did not move to the FBS. Findings showed that moving to the FBS had a positive, statistically significant correlation with freshmen applications at the two institutions located in Florida but not at Western Kentucky University. Keywords Football Bowl Subdivision . Freshmen applications Since the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) created subdivisions in 1979, a distinctive two-tiered system of intercollegiate football has developed. Schools which field football teams that compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), such as the University of Florida, Notre Dame University, and the University of Oregon, often play in front of tens of thousands of fans in state-of-the-art stadiums, draw millions of viewers in nationally televised broadcasts, and receive extensive football related media coverage. Schools with football programs competing in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), such as the University of Richmond, Alabama A&M, and The University of Montana, play in much smaller stadiums, receive less television exposure, and generally receive much less football related publicity. Recently, a number of FCS (Football Championship Subdivision) colleges and universities have made the decision to pursue membership in the FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision).
Willis A. Jones is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY. His research examines a variety of areas related to the study of higher education, including intercollegiate athletic policy, institutional diversity, and college student retention. W. A. Jones (*) Department of Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA e-mail: [email protected]
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Between 1990 and 2005, 13 institutions moved their football programs from the FCS to the FBS (Suggs 2005). In 2012, USA Today reported that “as many as 15 other institutions across the country are publicly or privately discussing such a move” (Pennington 2012, par. 7). Competing in the FBS, however, can be a very expensive endeavor. The cost of athletic scholarships, escalating coaches’ salaries, and the need to i
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