I’m a current high school junior looking to study Sports Management in college. I know of a few schools that have programs (I’ll list them below) but I want to know if there are any others which I am neglecting to consider. I’m open to studying SM as a Major, Minor, or Concentration. Any help would be greatly appreciated, and thanks in advance! I’ll list the schools I know about and my stats below if it helps get me better results:
GPA: 3.77 (thru Soph year; weighted, but out of 4.00)
State: New Jersey (private school)
ACT: 35 Comp, 29 Writing
PSAT: 1450 (out of 1520; likely NMS Finalist but unsure)
Schools Being Considered:
– Rutgers-New Brunswick
– Syracuse
– NYU
– UMass-Amherst
– UConn
– Elon
– UNC-CH
– GWU
– U of Miami
– U of Michigan
– Indiana
– UT-Austin
– Rice
I would also put a plug in for the University of Alabama. Nothing beats practical experience of managing the Div I NCAA championship athletic teams on campus
Temple has a Sports and Recreation Management major. It is not a Business School major, but is part of the School of Tourism and Hospitality Management. You would be eligible for quite a bit of merit aid at Temple, plus proximity to four professional sports teams as well as popular basketball and football programs.
For getting involved (working in the sports communication office, interning with teams, etc) remember that smaller schools may play in your favor. I know someone who goes to High Point University and as freshman essentially got to intern with the SID because smaller schools don’t necessarily have as big as a staff. Now I also know kids at UNCCH who also do similar stuff, but most of them have had to wait until their junior year, especially with bigger sports such as basketball and football.
Also at UNC the program is housed in the journalism school, not sure if that means anything to you.
Keystone (PA)
Our Lady of the Elms (NY)
Neumann (PA)
York (PA)
Southern CT
Cabrini (PA)
St. Thomas Aquinas (NY)
Mount St Mary (NY)
Holy Family (PA)
Nichols (MA)
MA College of Liberal Arts
I’d recommend choosing for the strength of the business school, doing a Management Major with a statistics minor and a Sports Management concentration - but the Sports Management part is the least important - what will matter is strength of business school + experience, so pick a school with ways for you to get involved, preferably as a freshman working your way up.
This is a list of the accredited undergraduate sports management programs. Not necessarily the best schools when it comes to name recognition but if sport management is what you want to do, here are the schools you need to look into:
Bowling Green State University
Central Michigan University
Davenport University
Endicott College
Kutztown University
Lasell College
Liberty University
Neumann University
Ohio University
Saint Leo University
Slippery Rock University
Southeast Missouri State University
Thomas College
Troy University
University of Indianapolis
University of Louisville
University of Mount Union
University of North Florida
Western New England University
Wichita State University
Wingate University
Winthrop University
York College of Pennsylvania
My son is Sports Management at UF. He belongs to the sport management club and the sport marketing club. His takeaway from the many speakers they have visit is that it’s a smart idea to have more than just a BS unless you are well connected. His close friends in the program are double majoring in business and planning on at least a graduate degree or planning on following up with law school. DS is studying for the LSAT now.
What is your budget? How much will your family pay each year?
To work in Sports Mgmt, usually a masters degree is req’d. Therefore many schools have the degree in their grad programs, and as undergrads they take one of the recommended undergrad majors : Mgmg, Communications, Marketing, Econ, Public Relations, etc.
I agree with the suggestion of Univ of Alabama because of its extensive sports programs with amazing facilities, including a state of the art Digital Media Center. You’d also qualify for large merit scholarships with either your scores or being a NMF. I know that even freshman have amazing opportunities available to them.
Given your ACT and SAT scores, you may be able to get into Rice. Not only is Rice an outstanding academic school with a strong reputation but it is also in Houston giving students great internship opportunities beginning freshman year. It has a relatively small student population meaning you get lots of interaction with the professors - many of whom have industry experience and a wealth of contacts all over the country and the curriculum is based on providing students the skills most demanded in entry level jobs. www.sport.rice.edu
Ithaca College has sports management and sports media. The university of Vermont offers a minor. Im also a rising senior interested in sports management.
I can vouch for the great Sports Management program at Texas A&M. It requires a semester long internship as part of the actual graduation requirements…not just an extra thing you can do if you choose.
I believe at A&M you get in-state tuition even with a small scholarship. With an ACT of 35, no doubt you would get some sort of merit scholarship.
SUNY Cortland. Close friend is a teacher in the department. They do a nice job and have great success with internships. I know you are OOS but should still be comparable price-wise, and your stats should be more than sufficient there I think.