Do Intercollegiate Athletics Support the Academic Mission of a University? An Examination of the Relationship between Football Success and Graduation Rates at Division I-A Institutions

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  • March 21, 2019
Creator
  • Schaff, Karen C.
    • Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Exercise and Sport Science
Abstract
  • While intercollegiate athletics has maintained a very unique relationship with academic institutions, financial growth of college athletics within the past decade has led to staunch criticism regarding the academic integrity of the inclusion of a commercial enterprise within the higher education model. The purpose of this study was to analyze whether intercollegiate athletics support the academic mission of higher education. Specifically, this study extended previous empirical research and examined the relationship between football success over a period of time and overall graduation rates at Division I-A institutions (McCormick & Tinsley, 2002; Tucker, 1992; Tucker 2004). This study identified relevant academic and football success variables that were significantly related to graduation rates. Combining the academic and football success variables, the study determined a model of explanatory variables that best predicted graduation rates. The findings of a positive and significant relationship between football success and graduation rates supports the theory that athletics support an institution’s educational mission and encourage the assimilation of students to collegiate life.
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  • In Copyright
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  • Tomasini, Nathan
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  • Open access
Date uploaded
  • October 19, 2010

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