Does the advertising effect of athletics impact academic rankings?

Abstract

The study presented here examines the relationship between athletic success and academic quality among Division 1 universities. The analysis begins by revisiting models that have seen previously examined by other researchers. The current literature is then extended using a new model incorporating academic rankings. The previously used models incorporate objective measures of academic quality. The new model presented here uses rankings which have a subjective input. It is then examined to see whether the subjective opinions present in the academic rankings are influenced by athletic success.

Acknowledgements

The author wishes to thank J. S. Butler and Eugenia F. Toma for their helpful suggestions and assistance; as well as Robert G. Houston, for inspiring my interest in the field of economics.

Notes

¹ US News & World Report numerically ranks what they call first- and second-tier schools. The remaining third- and fourth-tier schools are listed alphabetically within their respective tiers. For example, the third-tier schools are ranked between 127 and 186, but are listed alphabetically without their explicit numerical rank. The schools used in this sample that fell in either the third or fourth tier are assigned the average rank for that tier.