What is the attraction with athletics and top academic US universities?
If you look at the USNWR rankings, most of the top 20 US national universities (80%) participate in D1 sports. The outliers are MIT, U Chicago, Cal Tech, and WUSTL. At first glance, there seems to be little reason for there to be such a high level of support. Many of the schools on this list don’t even support successful athletic programs.
There must be a strong, tangible benefit outside of academics that is responsible for the high participation rate. The Ivy League is a sports conference, but the halo effect of belonging to the Ivy League extends far past its athletic accomplishment. Where would Cornell, Dartmouth, and Brown be today if they didn’t join the Ivy League in 1954?
In comparison, U Chicago withdrew from the Big 10 in 1946 because it felt athletics interfered with its commitment to academics. Was that a mistake? Meanwhile, Northwestern University stayed within the Big 10, continues to prosper, and may have surpassed its long time rival.
What’s the probability that any of these schools will eventually drop or significantly scale back their sports programs and just concentrate on academics like U Chicago?
I know athletics excite donors. Athletics also help to provide a more interesting mix of people on campus. Some unexpected schools have had impressive athletics success. Rice won a national title in baseball in the early 2000s.
About a snowball’s chance… Can you even fathom Michigan scaling back on football? Wolverine football is almost as strong as Michigan academics.
Seriously, the amount of money generated from the top athletic programs is mind-boggling, and those programs knit the alumni network (aka donors) together forever. Sports–the gift that keeps on giving.
Stanford tried cutting athletic programs not too long ago, and the school president and athletic director almost got tarred and feathered by students and alumni. Lawsuits were filed and big donors threatened to stop donating. Eventually the programs were restored.
UC Berkeley also tries cutting athletic programs every so often and is always met with strong pushback.
If schools cut athletic programs, it will be for financial reasons and not so they can focus on academics.
If you would like to consider colleges with truly high percentages of varsity athletes, this site may be of interest: The 25 Schools Stocked With Jocks. It appears that NESCACs, a Claremont and a smaller Ivy, Dartmouth, predominate.
Athletics are an integral part of academics. They are inseparable. Healthy body, healthy mind.
Intercollegiate sports do provide opportunity for camaraderie for students and alumni, and give elite athletes an opportunity to compete beyond an intramural level. Some schools may choose not to participate in intercollegiate sports, but they should still make it a priority to keep students active in some way. Any school that doesn’t provide facilities and encourage physical fitness is no good.
In addition to pleasing alumni and donors, sports are an efficient way of building name recognition and reputation with the general public.
The average rabid sports fan who doesn’t scrutinize USNWR ratings DOES hear announcers speak in awe of the “brainy” NFL quarterback or Olympic athlete who went to an Ivy or Stanford. Fans watching March Madness basketball will see multiple ads for the participating schools.
Sports are good PR and informs the general public about what is a “good” school. For that reason, many on the coasts might have zero opinion or familiarity with WashU or its academic reputation.
Based on the responses, it seems that everyone is in agreement that supporting a strong sports culture is a big net positive for most universities: elite and non-elite, large and small. It begs the question why there is so much shade thrown at recruited athletes who get favorable treatment at their schools. Is it deserved? The universities seem to know what they are doing.
It probably occurs when athletes are admitted with so much lower academic strength that scandals occur, such as poor graduation rates (compared to other students) for athletes, or things like lists of easy classes for athletes or even bogus classes for athletes.
Gator Dad here and always spent Saturdays watching College Football
Fast forward S21 wanted the same or at least a School with Big time basketball.
His final Choices came Down to Penn State, Iowa, Pitt, Michigan State and Florida State for Football schools and Marquette, SLU, Loyola, DePaul, Butler and Seton Hall for Basketball only schools. He is a Freshman at FSU
He wanted Academics but also wanted that life time of having a College Team to root for.
My D23 just recently informed me whatever school she goes to has to have a football team ( This was a surprise )
Both kids grew up playing sports and coaching from 4 years old thru High School
This is a great point. Attending college with big time athletics provides a lifetime of fandom. For sports fans, that’s a huge benefit. Talk to any B1G, SEC, ACC, etc. alum and ask them what they’re doing on a Saturday in the fall…
Even if the school isn’t a national powerhouse, it may have one or two teams that are competitive, or at least a rivalry with another school in its conference that people want to go to. Harvard-Yale game. Dad Vail crew race. Baseball national championships.
I’ve worked at jobs where there is a rivalry between employees when their schools play. One may be a big favorite (UCLA v Wyoming?) but it is still fun.
It’s quite interesting how athletics is so intertwined with higher education in the US. We are unique because no other country’s education system places a similar emphasis in athletics. Other countries have tried to copy our education model in hopes of replicating our academic success, but none have made any effort to copy our varsity athletics programs. They feel it is completely dispensable. But for many Americans including the actual universities themselves, college sports is completely indispensable.
The importance of athletics has been interwoven from pre-K to 12. Can you imagine if you tried to stop hs football in Texas? About 8 million kids participate in hs athletics.
I told my DD during high school to give me her top 5-10 wants in a college. D1 football was #1. Coming from a top high school football school she couldn’t imagine going to a school with no football, D3 football, or a mediocre team. She ended up at UGA, went to almost every home game and many away games. She’s now on the other side of the world and was up during the wee hours to catch the games. Supporting the football and other teams was a significant part of her high school and college experience with great memories.