As university budgets face fiscal challenges, it is important that university leaders make smart fiduciary choices. University leaders are quick to argue that athletics act as a front porch for universities, are a fundamental part of collegiate life, and that increased athletic funding will lead to enrollment increases and higher quality applicant pools. Critics of athletic spending, on the other hand, argue that money spent on college sports could be spent in other areas of the university.
Using a regression analysis similar to previous research, the purpose of this panel data regression analysis was to examine the relationship between intercollegiate athletics and college enrollment at FCS schools during the period between 2003 and 2015. Specifically, the researcher sought to examine whether institutional athletics expenditures had an impact on the total enrollments, number of applications, or quality of applicants at each of the universities within the Southland Conference.
The results of this study showed virtually no relationships between athletic spending and any of the dependent variables under study. Instead, the findings of this research suggested that at the FCS level, institutional spending on athletics did not statistically significantly impact university enrollment, application or student quality measures.
","abstract_html":"<p>As university budgets face fiscal challenges, it is important that university leaders make smart fiduciary choices. University leaders are quick to argue that athletics act as a front porch for universities, are a fundamental part of collegiate life, and that increased athletic funding will lead to enrollment increases and higher quality applicant pools. Critics of athletic spending, on the other hand, argue that money spent on college sports could be spent in other areas of the university.</p> <p>Using a regression analysis similar to previous research, the purpose of this panel data regression analysis was to examine the relationship between intercollegiate athletics and college enrollment at FCS schools during the period between 2003 and 2015. Specifically, the researcher sought to examine whether institutional athletics expenditures had an impact on the total enrollments, number of applications, or quality of applicants at each of the universities within the Southland Conference. </p> <p>The results of this study showed virtually no relationships between athletic spending and any of the dependent variables under study. Instead, the findings of this research suggested that at the FCS level, institutional spending on athletics did not statistically significantly impact university enrollment, application or student quality measures. </p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["McDermand, Rob","Mcdermand, Robert D"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Education","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Secondary Education and Educational Leadership","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Patrick M. Jenlink, Ed.D.","Scott Bailey, Ed.D.","Stephen Kosovich, Ph.D."],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2018,"date_issued":"2018-05-12T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2018-05-12T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:30:15Z","subjects":["Educational Administration and Supervision","Educational Leadership","Secondary Education"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/147","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Patrick M. Jenlink, Ed.D.","Scott Bailey, Ed.D.","Stephen Kosovich, Ph.D."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["McDermand, Rob","Mcdermand, Robert D"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2018-04-20T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Secondary Education and Educational Leadership"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Education"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Educational Administration and Supervision","Educational Leadership","Secondary Education"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/147"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["As university budgets face fiscal challenges, it is important that university leaders make smart fiduciary choices. University leaders are quick to argue that athletics act as a front porch for universities, are a fundamental part of collegiate life, and that increased athletic funding will lead to enrollment increases and higher quality applicant pools. Critics of athletic spending, on the other hand, argue that money spent on college sports could be spent in other areas of the university.
Using a regression analysis similar to previous research, the purpose of this panel data regression analysis was to examine the relationship between intercollegiate athletics and college enrollment at FCS schools during the period between 2003 and 2015. Specifically, the researcher sought to examine whether institutional athletics expenditures had an impact on the total enrollments, number of applications, or quality of applicants at each of the universities within the Southland Conference.
The results of this study showed virtually no relationships between athletic spending and any of the dependent variables under study. Instead, the findings of this research suggested that at the FCS level, institutional spending on athletics did not statistically significantly impact university enrollment, application or student quality measures.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["A QUANTITATIVE STUDY OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ATHLETIC SPENDING AND INSTITUTIONAL ENROLLMENT MEASURES IN FCS ATHLETIC INSTITUTIONS"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Patrick M. Jenlink, Ed.D.","Scott Bailey, Ed.D.","Stephen Kosovich, Ph.D."],"dc:creator":["McDermand, Rob","Mcdermand, Robert D"],"dc:date.available":["2018-04-20T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["As university budgets face fiscal challenges, it is important that university leaders make smart fiduciary choices. University leaders are quick to argue that athletics act as a front porch for universities, are a fundamental part of collegiate life, and that increased athletic funding will lead to enrollment increases and higher quality applicant pools. Critics of athletic spending, on the other hand, argue that money spent on college sports could be spent in other areas of the university.
Using a regression analysis similar to previous research, the purpose of this panel data regression analysis was to examine the relationship between intercollegiate athletics and college enrollment at FCS schools during the period between 2003 and 2015. Specifically, the researcher sought to examine whether institutional athletics expenditures had an impact on the total enrollments, number of applications, or quality of applicants at each of the universities within the Southland Conference.
The results of this study showed virtually no relationships between athletic spending and any of the dependent variables under study. Instead, the findings of this research suggested that at the FCS level, institutional spending on athletics did not statistically significantly impact university enrollment, application or student quality measures.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/147"],"dc:subject":["Educational Administration and Supervision","Educational Leadership","Secondary Education"],"dc:title":["A QUANTITATIVE STUDY OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ATHLETIC SPENDING AND INSTITUTIONAL ENROLLMENT MEASURES IN FCS ATHLETIC INSTITUTIONS"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Secondary Education and Educational Leadership"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Education"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:30:15Z"}