<p>Off the top of my head, I know that Rice and Northwestern offer degrees in kinesiology and physical therapy, respectively.</p>
<p>Florida, Miami, Washington University, Saint Louis University, LSU, Missouri, Ohio State, Kentucky, Maryville University, Evansville University, Bradley University also all offer at least one if not both kinesiology and physical therapy. No big names there or anything…</p>
<p>The athletic trainer for my D’s team began working while a graduate fellow from the same top university, and was later hired full time. Some of the sports psychologists who counsel athletes are also graduate fellows. Medical students and pre-meds do research with athletes at the university’s human performance lab. And here’s a recent academic project which directly involved the football team: [For</a> study of concussions, Stanford athletes use high-tech mouthpiece to record head impact - Office of Communications & Public Affairs - Stanford University School of Medicine](<a href=“http://med.stanford.edu/ism/2011/october/mouthpiece.html]For”>http://med.stanford.edu/ism/2011/october/mouthpiece.html) Medical students and human biology majors are conducting a concussion research project testing special mouthguards worn by football players which assess force of impact and body position.</p>
<p>I’m not saying these things justify excessive expenditures on sports, but merely that athletics are intertwined with the academic mission of the school.</p>
<p>UT has undergrad and grad degrees in various sports-related fields:</p>
<p>[The</a> College of Education - Graduate](<a href=“Home - College of Education - UT Austin”>Home - College of Education - UT Austin)</p>
<p>The existence of physical therapists to treat football players’ injuries does not magically turn football into an academic discipline, hops scout, any more than the presence of an ice rink of a campus does not magically turn ice skating into an academic discipline.</p>
<p>Once again you continue to put words in my mouth.</p>
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<p>Not in terms of overall expenditures and not in terms of participation, but there are certainly a dozen or so big universities where football is the main focus of the schools’ identity.</p>
<p>This parody got written for a reason. Like most parodies, it’s not actually true but it’s funny because it rings true; it’s based on a fair dose of reality:</p>
<p>[Florida</a> State University To Phase Out Academic Operations By 2010 | The Onion Sports Network](<a href=“http://www.onionsportsnetwork.com/articles/florida-state-university-to-phase-out-academic-ope,5425/]Florida”>http://www.onionsportsnetwork.com/articles/florida-state-university-to-phase-out-academic-ope,5425/)</p>
<p>Should we discontinue Residence Life since it’s not an “academic discipline?” What about recreation services? The bookstore? Dining halls?</p>
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<p>At Northwestern it’s the Department of Physical Therapy and Human Movement Science, but it’s only offered at the graduate/professional level. I’m not sure what we’re supposed to make of that. Is it that the Northwestern football players aren’t advanced enough to study it as undergrads? I believe “human movement science” is what’s known as “kinesiology” elsewhere.</p>
<p>I jest, of course. I dated a physical therapy student as an undergrad. It’s a legitimate health profession, with lots of demanding science requirements. I think there’s a lot of uninformed “lumping” going on in this thread. Let me be the first to apologize to the physical therapists out there; I have a great deal of respect for your profession, and for the classroom and clinical work it took to develop your extremely valuable professional skills which have aided millions of ill and badly injured people through successful rehab programs.</p>
<p>As an aside, not all kinesiology programs are the same. USC has one, for example, which requires Calculus. The programs at the Cal States…</p>
<p>WUSTL also offers a degree program in physical therapy, but only at the doctoral level.</p>
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<p>I believe there is only one or maybe two PT programs in the country that are offered at a Masters level. The rest are all a doctorate degree. </p>
<p>But the point was made “elite” schools offer programs of study such as physical therapy.</p>
<p>NYU offers a graduate-level program in “ergonomics and biomechanics” which is listed among “kinesiology” programs generally. The University of British Columbia, often listed among Canada’s “big 3” (with McGill and U Toronto), offers graduate programs in kinesiology. Smith offers an M.S. in “exercise and sport studies.” Trinity college Dublin, probably Ireland’s best, offers degrees in “exercise physiology.”</p>
<p>USC, Northwestern, Michigan, Columbia, Duke, Georgetown, Emory, NYU, WUSTL, Tufts, McGill, UBC, University of Toronto, and Trinity College Dublin all offer degree programs in physical therapy.</p>
<p>Does any one know offhand if there are many private institutions which are eliminating their football teams? If most football teams are losing money and often cause Title IX compliance problems, and private schools have no taxpayer money to supposedly supplement that financial loss, one wonders why more private schools aren’t cutting football. Could it be due to the very benefits mentioned in various CC threads on this very topic?</p>
<p>Here’s some food for thought for this thread. I’ve heard before (and kinda chuckle) at the phrase “the sweatiest of the liberal arts”:</p>
<p>[Alum</a> urges athletics as education - The Daily Princetonian](<a href=“http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2006/12/01/16817/]Alum”>http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2006/12/01/16817/)</p>
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<p>University of Chicago was once a Big Ten member, and one of its football players was the first recipient of the predecessor to the Heisman Trophy in 1935. But it abolished football in 1939. After a subsequent return, it now plays football in NCAA Division III.</p>
<p>University of San Francisco shut down its men’s basketball program from 1982 to 1985 due to various scandalous incidents and NCAA penalties.</p>
<p>Southern Methodist University football got the NCAA “death penalty” in 1987, and opted to sit out the 1988 season as well.</p>
<p>The Ivy League, while a member of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision, does not participate in the post-season playoff for the championship.</p>
<p>That’s great, hops scout. I still don’t get why the presence of physical therapy programs / degrees / courses of study – which could be fairly construed as a “subset” of medicine – makes football an academic subject. It’s not. It’s not an academic subject comparable to English, French, history, drama, arts, engineering, biology, Latin, etc. I don’t know why that is so hard to grasp.</p>
<p>"The departments who are struggling see jobs get cut and budgets get cut until they can turn things around. "
Its not the DEPTS that are struggling, its the ENTIRE UC SYSTEM that is suffering financial cutbacks. If you actually lived in Calif, you might know that. Your “so just cut back at the dept level until they turn it around” scenario doesn’t work in this situation.</p>
<p>The bottom line is that the UCLA football program is financially healthy and viable; while the same cannot be said of the academic portion of the university. UCLA is one of the top universities in the country/world, but needs to take action to keep itself from sliding. Forbidding one night hotel stays by its football team isn’t going to make a dent, and could make its recruiting more difficult. It could take a cue from USC and admit 50-60% of its class from the full-pay pool, and raise tuition to $50K, which is competitive with USC. That might do the trick.</p>
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<p>Maybe it’s because YOU are the only one who has said that it is. I have NOT ONCE.</p>
<p>Oh and nice response to my answers to your question. It’s too bad you were proven WRONG once again.</p>