Just a Game? The Impact of Collegiate Athletic Programs on the Undergraduate Admissions Process

Approximately 19.5 million people watched the NCAA Men’s Basketball Division I National Championship in 2008. Beyond the financial gains through ticket and merchandise sales, what type of impact, if any, does this widely publicized event have on the winning university’s applications and admissions process? Universities that won Men’s Basketball Division I National Championships between the years of 1999-2008 were examined in the study. Sample variables included: the number of applications received by a university, the number of freshman who enrolled, whether a waiting list was used, and the percent of applicants in the top ten percent of their class for the year preceding the championship and the two years following the championship. These variables were selected to reveal the positive correlation between winning a national championship and the number of undergraduate applications received by the university.