BC disputes whether the Flutie Effect increased applications, but the phenomenon certainly exists.
During a tour of Boston College last week, our tour guide impressed upon the group that BC is a school where spirit matters, pride reigns strong, and students really, really like sports.Then somebody’s dad floated the name Doug Flutie, and our guide’s face lit up, “Oh my gosh, he was actually here today. I saw him in the dining hall, and he was hanging out and talking to students and everything.”
To the current high school students on the tour, the name probably meant little. But nearly 20 years after the Hail Mary that beat Miami on a November day in the Orange Bowl, the quarterback’s name is forever etched in legend at Boston College. There’s even a life-size statue of him outside BC’s Alumni Stadium. And probably no single collegiate sporting event has had as big an impact on college admissions since. It even has a name: “The Flutie Effect.”
That’s the description of how college sports affects spikes in applications. Boston College is said to have had a 30 percent increase in applications in the two years following that game. In a paper published a year ago by Harvard Business School professor Doug J. Chung, other examples of the Flutie Effect included Georgetown (basketball in the ‘80s), Boise State (football) and Gonzaga (basketball). Some evidence exists that basketball helped propel Duke and football likewise for Northwestern, already highly esteemed research universities that happened to be the perennial runts of their giant conferences before success found them. Boston College, for its part, resists the Flutie Effect as a factor in its rise to the elite rung of college rankings.
How much does a school’s success in athletics matter to a student in his/her decision-making process? And how much should it matter?
Chung’s study found that schools do become more academically selective with athletic success while a similar study by the University of Chicago’s Devin Pope showed a clear correlation between a rise in applications and success in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament as well as a top-20 ranking in football.
This isn’t surprising, but how about the college president who made the financial decision to build his university’s basketball team for success in order to specifically put the school on the map? The Indianapolis Business Journal’s Anthony Schoettle wrote about former Butler University prez Geoffrey Bannister’s plan to boost Butler’s men’s hoops program to make the university as a whole more competitive. Butler devised a business plan, hired a top-notch coach, enlisted experts (the Pacer’s Donnie Walsh), hired Disney to design a friendly Bulldog logo, and eventually Butler reached the Final Four (2010). The next year, they did it again.
Applications increased 30 percent; enrollment increased; alumni donations increased. The student body is more diverse–out of staters now outnumber Indiana residents.
But is Butler any better a university academically?
Administrators argue yes, that a more diverse student population, robust enrollment and greater financial stability all add to a better academic environment. And that the increased recognizability of the school’s name helps eventual graduates on their job search.
Should a student be making his/her college choice based on a Final Four appearance? This adviser would argue that a school’s sports success should play a minor role in a decision this major. If it’s between, say, Michigan State and Illinois, well, both have big-time sports. But if you want to study computer science, wouldn’t you be better off at Illinois (#5 ranked)? If you’re interested in the hospitality industry, then MSU would be the better choice. Majors, class sizes, research opportunities: These should be some of the primary considerations for students, even if you’ve always rooted for a particular football team.
There are some other reasons parents might not want their kids facing the distractions of a sports-dominated campus. The New York Times’ Laura Pappano details how sports can consume college life for some kids in a 2012 article.
“Classes are canceled to accommodate broadcast schedules, and new research suggests that fandom can affect academic performance. Campus life itself revolves around not just going to games but lining up and camping out to get into them,” Pappano reports.
She cites Oregon econ professor Glenn Waddell’s research that when the sports atmosphere heats up, grades suffer. Waddell “compared transcripts of over 29,700 students from 1999 to 2007 against Oregon’s win-loss record. For every three games won, grade-point average for men dropped 0.02, widening the G.P.A. gender gap by 9 percent. Women’s grades didn’t suffer. In a separate survey of 183 students, the success of the Ducks also seemed to cause slacking off: students reported studying less (24 percent of men, 9 percent of women), consuming more alcohol (28 percent, 20 percent) and partying more (47 percent, 28 percent).”
Camping out for tickets has become commonplace on campuses. Some schools cancel classes before a big game. And if your schools is host to ESPN’s College GameDay, it’s an excuse to party all weekend long.
But one indisputable fact remains: A winning sports team builds community at colleges. Whether it’s tiny Saint Mary’s or giant Ohio State, the shared identity and school pride that comes from that NCAA bid or bowl win might just be the tipping factor for a high school senior. It just shouldn’t be the main one.