Kent Austin: first threat to Cornell's high GPA in 50 years?

Mary Pilon, NYT
When a college football team is successful, students put down their books and pick up some beers ... In examining the grade-point averages of the Oregon student body and the performance of the Ducks’ football team, ... researchers found a relationship between declining grades and success on the field. “Our results support the concern that big-time sports are a threat to American higher education,” the paper’s authors — Jason M. Lindo, Isaac D. Swensen and Glen R. Waddell — wrote. They said their work was among the first to take a look at the “nonmonetary costs” of college sports. ... Male students were more likely than female students to increase their alcohol consumption and celebrating and decrease studying when a team fared well, resulting in lower grade-point averages, according to the study.

billhoward
Winning Teams Linked With Declining Grades New York Times, 12/22/2011

Mary Pilon, NYT
When a college football team is successful, students put down their books and pick up some beers ... In examining the grade-point averages of the Oregon student body and the performance of the Ducks’ football team, ... researchers found a relationship between declining grades and success on the field. “Our results support the concern that big-time sports are a threat to American higher education,” the paper’s authors — Jason M. Lindo, Isaac D. Swensen and Glen R. Waddell — wrote. They said their work was among the first to take a look at the “nonmonetary costs” of college sports. ... Male students were more likely than female students to increase their alcohol consumption and celebrating and decrease studying when a team fared well, resulting in lower grade-point averages, according to the study.

The full paper is online ($$$) at [www.nber.org]