Big win on field yields a bump in applications

Associated Press
Big win on field yields a bump in applications

Associated Press
March 24, 2008

RICHMOND, Va. — Turns out there's some basis for the long-held belief among college admissions officials that success in high-profile sporting events brings in more applications.

Until recently, evidence of the "Flutie Effect"—coined when applications to Boston College jumped about 30 percent in the 2 years after quarterback Doug Flutie's Hail Mary pass beat Miami in 1984—had been mostly anecdotal.

So two researchers set out to quantify it.

"Certainly, college administrators have known about this for a while, but I think this study helps to pin down what the average effects are," said Jaren Pope, an assistant professor in applied economics at Virginia Tech who conducted the study with his brother Devin, an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.

The brothers compared information on freshman classes at 330 NCAA Division I schools with how the schools' teams fared from 1983 through 2002.

Their findings will be published this year in the Southern Economic Journal.

For George Mason University, just outside Washington in northern Virginia, the positive effects of its unlikely Final Four appearance 2 years ago were wide-reaching.

Freshman applications increased 22 percent the year after the team made its magical run. The percentage of out-of-state freshmen jumped from 17 percent to 25 percent, and admissions inquiries rose 350 percent, said Robert Baker, director of George Mason's Center for Sport Management who conducted a study called "The Business of Being Cinderella."

Baker also found that SAT scores went up by 25 points in the freshman class, and retention rates as freshmen moved into their sophomore year increased more than 2 percentage points.

David Harding
This says that Cornell should experience another jump in applications this year with its appearance in the NCAA basketball tournament.

Beeeej

David Harding
This says that Cornell should experience another jump in applications this year with its appearance in the NCAA basketball tournament.

Funny, I thought it said that applications tend to increase after success in high-profile sporting events.

David Harding
This says that Stanford should experience another jump in applications this year with its appearance in the NCAA basketball tournament.

Beeeej

David Harding
This says that Cornell should experience another jump in applications this year with its appearance in the NCAA basketball tournament.

Funny, I thought it said that applications tend to increase after success in high-profile sporting events.

Original article
For basketball, the results suggest that being one of the 64 teams in the NCAA tournament yields approximately a 1% increase in applications the following year, making it to the “sweet sixteen” yields a 3% increase, the “final four” a 4-5% increase, and winning the tournament a 7-8% increase.