Academics and Athletics

Sports

Academics

and athletics

By Teddy Kolva Assoc. Sports Editor

A

s collegiate sports are becoming a progressively more lucrative industry and the stakes for maximizing a school’s profit are at an all-time high, there is one constant in an otherwise competitive, crazed atmosphere: the desire to make more money.

Striving to achieve milestones and institutional goals, schools are trying everything to attain dominance and financial success. But, it seems that the academic standards associated with top-tier schools are unwavering—a certainty in the unpredictable and often spontaneous world of college sports.

The University of Notre Dame, which boasts a 24 percent acceptance rate and is considered one of the premier national universities in the Midwest, recently contended for a BCS football national championship after going undefeated in the regular season.

When Notre Dame became the No. 1 team in the country towards the end of the season, it was lauded by many for not only its athletic successes, but its consistent focus on academia as well: it has the

best GSR (Graduation Success Rate) in the country at 99percent.

Similar to its South Bend counterpart, the University of Michigan is known for providing an outstanding undergraduate education, ranked 28th in US News & World Report’s annual listing of best universities.

The Wolverines men’s basketball team is the No. 2 team in the nation and the football team finished the season in the AP Top 25, always maintaining excellence even in “off-years.”

UCLA, holder of the NCAA-record 108 team championships, has also never strayed from its status as one of the leading research universities in the entire world. Last year, 15,892 people were admitted of the 72,697 applicants. Along with its 21 percent acceptance rate, the school is home to No. 1 draft picks in the MLB, NFL, NBA and MLS. There is a positive correlation between financial support and well-balanced universities.

UCLA’s endeavors, set at the intersection of strong sports teams and stronger academics, saw donations to the athletic department triple over the decade, in part due to the university’s ability to cultivate competent scholar-athletes.

Left: Photo Courtesy of tbagpro/Flickr Right: Photo Courtesy of EMA Dharma Bum/Flickr

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50,000 donors contribute annually to the school’s Wooden Athletic Fund, ranging in gifts from $100 to $50,000.

Evidenced by UCLA’s growth in donations and annual giving, the incentive for finding a medium between academics and athletics is growing markedly. Alumni and fans give back in times of athletic success, but seem to respond even more generously when the school demonstrates a balance between academics and athletics.

There seems to be a formula that works well for many top-tier schools, but for the universities that maintain their academic prestige and still struggle to find on-field success, different routes need to be taken to achieve a greater balance — if it is even in the school’s best interests to.

To the defense of smaller, private universities like Boston College, it is a lot easier to accept exceptional athletes in a bigger pool of applicants and broader requirements set by the admissions office — something UCLA and Michigan can afford to do without tarnishing their academic reputation.

A school remaining true to its academic prestige, but failing to experience success in major revenuegenerating sports in recent years, Boston College is certainly looking to develop a model that fosters athletic success without diminishing academic prestige.

While BC has the most Fulbright scholars in the country and boasting a GSR of 97 percent — one of the best in the ACC and NCAA — the shortcomings of the football and men’s basketball teams give way to concern on the Heights.

www.bcgavel.com

According to 2008 figures derived from the Knight Commission, formed in 1989 in order to reform the practices of NCAA institutions, the ACC spends 6.3 times more of its institutional resources on athletics over academics.

The median spending per student was $15,911, while the median spending per athlete was a staggering $105,805.

While analysis of these numbers suggest that no school truly balances academics and athletics, the significance lies in the fact that schools are willing to invest much more in the success of their athletes than in their students. Clearly, the desire to win on the field (or the rink, if you’re an avid Boston College sports fan) outweighs all.

Yet schools like Boston College are continuing to see mediocre or average performances from the men’s basketball and football teams. What is enabling this underperformance?

As indicated by the Knight Commission figures, it is not an issue of an institution not investing enough into the athletic department. Boston College reportedly set new head football

coach Steve Addazio’s contract at $1.6 million per year, so it would be wrong to also blame BC’s struggles on a lack of investment of personnel.

One of the only remaining variables hindering BC’s athletics success is the admissions office. Lessening admissions requirements and standards would obviously allow for a broader range of talent to be recruited at BC, but that option seems only feasible and doable at major public universities.

A report conducted by the Associated Press in 2009 found that out of 92 public universities investigated, 27 of them brought in athletes that otherwise would have never been able to attend the university without “special athletic admittance.”

Striking enough, one of these schools was UCLA. Athletes are 61.2 percent more likely to get accepted into the university in comparsion with regular applicants.

Disparities such as these would never exist at Boston College; the emphasis on being a well-rounded individual is too central to the University’s mission to bring in fivestar recruits who fall well below admissions standards.

Luckily, as shown in years past, it is not impossible for a balance of great athletics and academic prestige. BC’s road to success may not be as instantaneous and rewarding as other schools, given the ever-present academic and admissions pressures, but it can and will happen.

The median spending per student was $15,911, while the median spending per athlete was a staggering $105,805.

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