For those who believe the conventional wisdom that athletic culture impacts big time Division 1 universities more that small Div 3 colleges, read “The Game of Life”. A few quotes from the Amazon book summary"
Shulman and Bowen show that athletic programs raise even more difficult questions of educational policy for small private colleges and highly selective universities than they do for big-time scholarship-granting schools. They discover that today’s athletes, more so than their predecessors, enter college less academically well-prepared and with different goals and values than their classmates–differences that lead to different lives.
James Shulman and William Bowen introduce facts into a terrain overrun by emotions and enduring myths. Using the same database that informed The Shape of the River, the authors analyze data on 90,000 students who attended thirty selective colleges and universities in the 1950s, 1970s, and 1990s. Drawing also on historical research and new information on giving and spending, the authors demonstrate how athletics influence the class composition and campus ethos of selective schools, as well as the messages that these institutions send to prospective students, their parents, and society at large.
And realize that at small LAC’s, typically 25% of the student body participated in intercollegiate sports while at a university like UCLA, Bama, or UM less that 5% of the student body participate.