UConn Admissions Office Loves MBB/WBB Championships

[JoePgh]

I just saw a story on the NBC 11 PM local news which documented a pattern of student applications for admission to UConn spiking in years when either the men or the women win a basketball championship. Last year's MBB championship caused this year's applications to grow from 46,000 to 57,000, and the pattern supposedly has existed in every year following either an MBB or a WBB championship.

Besides being interesting in itself, this also casts an important light on the discussions about the alleged financial losses of the MBB and WBB programs and the salaries being paid to Geno and Danny Hurley. If success on the basketball court really causes a substantial and measurable increase in applications to UConn, and thereby allows UConn to be more academically selective in its admissions, that is a tangible academic benefit to the university which helps to justify whatever subsidy the two programs receive.

 

[ThisJustIn]

Umm.... not be be a downer, but you might want to chat with the professors. UConn students, staff speak out about proposed budget cuts

 

[JoePgh]

Just because UConn gets more applicants as a result of basketball success, that doesn't mean it has to admit more students and thereby increase its operating costs. The extra applicants mean that the University can be more selective in choosing its class, without incurring more costs.

 

[Linart]

This has been the modus operandi of the state for years: chronically underfund the state's university forcing them to come begging for more money, then after chastising them for being wasteful, force cuts. Athletics is frequently in the cross-hairs.

By the way, before NIL, an athletic scholarship really meant something. Out-of-state tuition is currently $42,000/year.

 

[UCTitleTown]

If a university wants to be profitable they'd increase their foreign student admissions. Foreign students pay full-rate. Of course, I'm not advocating that because my kid will already have a tough time getting in without top academic kids from overseas

 

[Skeets]

If enrollment expands does UConn lose more money? The current financial mess strongly suggests yes. 2 of my kids went to Stony Brook where the out of state rate was about the same as the in state rate for UConn. So something is out of kilter, and bigger than UConn athletics.

 

[UCTitleTown]

If enrollment expands does UConn lose more money? The current financial mess strongly suggests yes. 2 of my kids went to Stony Brook where the out of state rate was about the same as the in state rate for UConn. So something is out of kilter, and bigger than UConn athletics.

It probably depends on class size and the current faculty to student ratio. If classes are already large and staff needs to be added to add classes, it's probably worse, but if class sizes can be increased without adding staff, the university would profit. Very hard to say, but raising admission standards would improve the overall academic standing of the university.

 

[Dogdude]

Yeah, more applicants just means they can be more selective. There is only so much room for so many students. And the general profit/loss status on any college or university is that all departments lose money save for the sciences, and that's only if they do some top-notch research. You need a huge endowment to keep things rolling, and generous donors to keep athletics moving. It's unfortunate, but if it's all about money, Uconn would do best to the cut every sport save for women's and men's basketball. That's just not right, of course, but I'm wondering if a lot of the fringe sports will get demoted to club status, and for every college or university. What's it say about higher education if athletics budgets go up when the departments that are trying to train future doctors get cut? It's not easy...

 

[omshanti]

There is a book, ‘Beer and Circus’ that is written about this phenomenon, mostly as it pertains to football many years ago.The premise of the book is that for years and years enrollment increases after a national championship (football) is won. That obviously is applicable to basketball as well. It’s a good read.