Does football success = more applications to a school?

[woffordgrad94]

We know that all football players want to play for a winner, but do you think football records play any part in a non-athlete's decision in where to go to school? In other words, do you think football success gets a lot of people to apply to go to school at places like Appalachian State, Montana, McNeese State, Northern Iowa, and other perrinial powerhouses of the FCS? I've been told that applications to Wofford were up after the 2003 semifinalist season, and I think football might be why. Football, though not the main purpose of an institution of higher learning, is important, and winning hjelps your school and its popularity. That is my take on the subject.

[bustingnut]

Exposure through excellent acedemics may get you smart people in those fields, but exposure through sports gets you more applicants, more applicants means higher entrance standards. Both are good means of growing, the athletics probably will cause faster growth.

[roadwarrior]

NDSU's one point loss to the University of Minnesota last year created a lot of attention to NDSU in the Twin Cities. Almost one half of NDSU's enrollment is made up of students from the state of Minnesota, so a game like that creates more awareness of the school and it's programs. I am not saying that football success alone drives enrollment increases, but I think it has an affect.

NDSU's enrollment:
2000 - 10,002
2001 - 10,538
2002 - 11,146
2003 - 11,623
2004 - 12,026
2005 - 12,099
2006 - 12,258
2007 - 12,527

(For those that don't know, NDSU's campus is just a little over a mile from the ND/Minnesota border.)

[Go...gate]

It made a difference at Colgate. When Adonal Foyle was there and basketball was pretty good (not great), he gave the University a lot of exposure which resulted in more applications. The 2003 football team's run to the Title Game had a similar impact.

[RadMann]

I think in FBS it is huge, not so much in FCS (unless the school's basketball program makes the NCAAs)...

[youwouldno]

I think the effect is minor in all cases. Enrollments have been rising generally and even schools that have had abysmal athletic seasons have seen spikes in applications in various recent years.

[DFW HOYA]

Not lately.

[gophoenix]

Exposure through excellent acedemics may get you smart people in those fields, but exposure through sports gets you more applicants, more applicants means higher entrance standards. Both are good means of growing, the athletics probably will cause faster growth.

I think you're right. It isn't football success but the fact that the name is "out there" more that does it. it could be because of swimming. It could be because someone from that school was prominent in the Olympics. Any number of things, it is the exposure more than the success themselves. And it is more applicants you get... which in turn makes the school more competitive to get into.

You're right on the money.

[MR. CHICKEN]

CAIN'T GETTAH GOOD PAYIN' JOB.......LESS YA GO TA COLLEGE....OR......LEARN MANDARIN...........ENROLLMENTS ARE UP FO' DIS FACT...........MOST STUDENTS......WANT BEER/CHICKS/TUNES/PARTYS....TA UNWIND FROM DUH RIGGORS....O' BOOKS/TESTS/THESIS'S..........HOW UH FOOTABALL TEAM PREFORMS...MEANS VERAH LITTLE.........DEY ARE PACKIN' 'EM IN DUH HALLOWED HALLS....O'......NORFFERN COLORADO.....AN' DEY'RE...UH WHOPPIN'....0-4......AN' WEATHERAH LIKE SIBERIA........DIS ARGUMENT....IS THIN AS....TURNIP SOUP............BUT IT'S MAH STORY......AN' AHM STUCK WHIFF IT.......:o....BRAWK/OMAR@15TDS&CLIMBIN'.AWQ!

[appsfan]

I agree that it is the exposure that results from success on the field that may increase interest in a school through a higher applicant count. I agree that the impact would be higher at the FCS level as in many cases, our schools aren't as well known as schools at the FBS level. However, after a few years of "success" the impact I thoink would level off.

[thmst30]

I don't remember the stats, but apparently after App won 2 straight titles our application numbers went up a good bit. Its not a coincidence.

[Old Cage]

The text book case is the dramatic increase in both the number of and the quality of applications that Boston College received during and after the Doug Flutie years. It was very dramatic.

Just this week there was a story also from BC about the number and quality they are receiving from states with other ACC teams since they joined that conference. Incoming freshmen from North Carolina were quoted.

[walliver]

This is actually one of the main driving forces behind Wofford moving to Division 1. In the late 80's/early 90's, there was a move (by the faculty of course) to move to Division 3 (and drop football). When the College researched this, it was found that Wofford was well thought of by those who had heard of the school, but was generally unknown outside of the Carolinas except in places where Wofford had played an athletic event. For example, when we played at Georgia Tech in basketball, interest in Wofford at high school college nights went up in the Atlanta area.

Success in sports doesn't bring in many students per se, but it does create name recognition by prospective students, and name recognition leads to interest, and possible matriculation.

As a result of this process, Wofford's administration decided to move up instead of moving down.

This is one of my complaints about our current AD. Instead of scheduling teams around the southeast and east, he wants to keep all our games within walking distance of campus.

[Old Montana State Grad]

I recall Ape State's Chancellor noting their applications increased over 25 percent after their first national championship and Georgia Tech had nearly a 30 percent spike after their last tie for a national championship.

In fact, the Ape State Chancellor mentioned increased enrollment was the major driving force behind their stadium expansion plans.

I would think all of us are in agreement that football is in all probability the major factor most consider when looking at the overall college experience.

[PaladinFan]

I dont think Furmans athletic success contributes to applications at all.

[Old Montana State Grad]

I dont think Furmans athletic success contributes to applications at all.

Don't you have a "ceiling" that limits your enrollment just as Westminister High School in Buckhead will only serve 135 students? In other words, as a private school, the public has no way of knowing one way or the other whether or not you've received more applicants?

[Seven Would Be Nice]

I think for larger public schools, it can have a huge effect.

Can anyone pull the enrollment numbers for Florida since 2000? I wonder if they had a huge spike. Might be interesting.

[McNeese_beat]

I don't know how much it helps but I do seem to recall a lot of regret from Lamar when it dropped its I-AA team in the late 1980s. There was an enrollment decline afterwards. I think it created the impression that the school was struggling in general and kept students away. Conversely, very public success on the football field can create the impression of general success. If you've got your act together on the football field, you must have your act together in the English department...

Of course, if that were true then some of these Louisianians would be able to speak English down here a bit, eh?:D

[youwouldno]

Don't you have a "ceiling" that limits your enrollment just as Westminister High School in Buckhead will only serve 135 students? In other words, as a private school, the public has no way of knowing one way or the other whether or not you've received more applicants?

Enrollment isn't the issue necessarily. More applicants is often the issue, since in theory that means better students or, at least, a higher USNews ranking.

The thing is, most incoming students to FCS programs are already fans of a big FBS program. Now, obviously one can be a fan of an FCS program and also an FBS. However, if the student is bypassing the FBS program he or she roots for, athletics were clearly not very important in the decision to matriculate. Many students that go to a large FBS program are even fans of a different large FBS.

With the ease of researching colleges on the internet, I think any past effects are not really applicable. Conference affiliation, I would tend to accept, does probably make a marginal difference.

[Tod]

I recall Ape State's Chancellor noting their applications increased over 25 percent after their first national championship and Georgia Tech had nearly a 30 percent spike after their last tie for a national championship.

In fact, the Ape State Chancellor mentioned increased enrollment was the major driving force behind their stadium expansion plans.

I would think all of us are in agreement that football is in all probability the major factor most consider when looking at the overall college experience.

Smack board ----------->

xnonono2x

[RadMann]

MY point about it having an effect in the FBS level is exposure. The FBS football games get press coverage across the country. FCS does not. Sure, there is an effect in the extraordinary instances such as ASU beating Michigan, but when UD plays Hofstra or GSU battles Wofford, the effect is limited and local in terms of press coverage and less so as an effect on applications and enrollment as I see it...

[bluehenbillk]

It's difficult to say it gets you more applications unless you get to the title game as the other rounds get little recognition.

[McNeese_beat]

MY point about it having an effect in the FBS level is exposure. The FBS football games get press coverage across the country. FCS does not. Sure, there is an effect in the extraordinary instances such as ASU beating Michigan, but when UD plays Hofstra or GSU battles Wofford, the effect is limited and local in terms of press coverage and less so as an effect on applications and enrollment as I see it...

You're point is valid if it's a national university. I don't know if Villanova feels much effect from happens on the football team (although trips to the Final Four in hoops probably do help).

However, when you're McNeese St. and the vast majority of your student body comes from a five parish (county) area and a smattering from outside that, than the local exposure is huge. And, I find that many of the schools in the division are regional universities like McNeese.

[GannonFan]

I say no, at least no to the idea that football success, in the absence of anything else, increases applications. Everyone always references the "Flutie Effect" that Boston College had following the Doug Flutie years, but what most don't remember is that the "Flutie Effect" was disproven - Boston College had been experiencing growth for years before Flutie made waves nationally on the gridiron. Heck, Boston College had record growth in applications the year after they went 0-11 in football and that was a couple of years before Flutie ever stepped on campus. In most cases, while there appears to be a bump following athletic success in terms of applications (note, there is no guarantee that increased applications results in higher standards for applicants - it all depends on who is applying) most of the time there are many other factors independent of athletics that help to make that happen.

[PaladinFan]

Cap or not, people don't just decide to go to Furman for the football team. They go because of the academics.

However, say a student was choosing between Davidson and Furman. Or between Furman and Wake Forest/Vanderbilt. Then football success might play a factor. A student might want to go to a good school, but would rather watch Furman play Georgia Southern than watch Davidson play Lenior Rhyne.

Similarly, a student might rather watch Wake Forest play a home game against Florida State than Furman entertain Elon.

It can be a factor, but certainly not much of one.

[MR. CHICKEN]

ALL DEPENDS ON WHAT VOCATION.......IS CURRENTLY IN NEED O' RE-SUPPLY.......ie..........SHORTAGE O' NURSES.........APPLICATIONS RISE AT GOOD NURSIN' SCHOOLS.......NOT 'CAUSE....DERE STUD QB HAS TOSSED DUH PIGGY FO' 39 TDS........WELL MAYBEAH....IFIN' HE LOOKS LIKE.....ELVIS...................BRAWK!/OMAR@15TDS&RISIN'.BRAWQ!

[AmsterBison]

You're point is valid if it's a national university. I don't know if Villanova feels much effect from happens on the football team (although trips to the Final Four in hoops probably do help).

However, when you're McNeese St. and the vast majority of your student body comes from a five parish (county) area and a smattering from outside that, than the local exposure is huge. And, I find that many of the schools in the division are regional universities like McNeese.

Yeah, for North Dakota State, regional exposure is much more important than national exposure in attracting students. First, most kids want to be in driving distance of home. Second, NDSU has reciprocity agreements so that students from nearby states get discounted tuition. I bet this holds true for a lot of FCS *and* FBS schools.

I think succeeding in DI has increased NDSU's regional exposure and that, in turn, has had a positive effect on enrollment numbers. That said, a stronger emphasis on research has really swelled the number of grad students - and I doubt they picked NDSU because of athletics.

[89Hen]

More? Yes.... Better? Never been proven.

[McNeese_beat]

Yeah, for North Dakota State, regional exposure is much more important than national exposure in attracting students. First, most kids want to be in driving distance of home. Second, NDSU has reciprocity agreements so that students from nearby states get discounted tuition. I bet this holds true for a lot of FCS *and* FBS schools.

I think succeeding in DI has increased NDSU's regional exposure and that, in turn, has had a positive effect on enrollment numbers. That said, a stronger emphasis on research has really swelled the number of grad students - and I doubt they picked NDSU because of athletics.

Siimilarly, I think McNeese being stuck at 8,800 students is a reflection of things that AREN'T happening academically (lack of doctoral programs, lack of research programs leading to name recognition). I believe McNeese has good statistics in terms of the results it gets from its students (GRE scores, med school placement, etc.) so it's not like it has nothing to hang its hat on academically. But I think McNeese football success has been its best recruiter. That's not a good thing.

Put it like this, I don't think Harvard and Yale are waiting around for an Ivy championship to push up enrollment figures...

[blueballs]

I think for larger public schools, it can have a huge effect.

Can anyone pull the enrollment numbers for Florida since 2000? I wonder if they had a huge spike. Might be interesting.

Florida's enrollment hasn't increased dramatically but the qualifications fro acceptance have risen dramatically- unless you are a football or basketball player.xsmiley_wix

The greatest example of how football can affect a school's enrollment is the miracle that happened at Georgia Southern throughout the 1980's.

GSC football and Erk Russell literally put the school on the map, raised its profile, attracted students from all over the country, led to the school achieving university status, and opened the floodgates for money.

The enrollment has more than tripled at GSU since Coach Russell was hired and the football program reborn in 1981, which was exactly what Dr. Lick had in mind when they made the decision to do it and go after coach Russell.

[AlphaSigMD]

Folks...throwing around the word "proven" in a case such as this is just nonsense. There are very few things in life, science or anything outside of mathmatics or the court of law that is "proven".

Sure, you can apply statistics and correlation and p values to this problem, but whats your sample going to look like, and how are you going to adjust the values for bias? Also, what are you going to define as success. This is very tricky buisness indeed. Everyone's not going to agree, no matter what you do.

So why not look at it in a rational approach. Let's use ASU's recent success, because its a topic i'm somewhat familiar with. Somebody who has more time than I do can go and look this up, for the exact numbers. Maybe from US News?

I've heard that the numbers that applied to ASU increased dramatically in both the past 2 years. I also read in a paper somewhere fairly recently, either the Charlotte Observer or Winston Salem Journal (i think) about how ASU's average adjusted SAT score has taken an upward spike, and deveated from the trend before.

So, if one's accepting the previous statements as true, then one must conclude that there is SOME reason for it. In fact, there may be several reasons.

However, I think that one saying that winning the 1st and 2nd national championship in the school's history, and the 1st football national championship in the state of NC might have something to do with that. Most of the big name schools around here aren't too good at football right now...and people always want to go to a winner. We're probably not having too big of an effect of those that live and die to go to Chapel Hill or Duke but I feel that those who are deciding between ASU, NC State, ECU, UNCC, WCU, UNC Asheville, UNC Greensboro, UNC Wilmington, UNC Pembroke, NC Cental, WSSU and then a couple of other private ones like Elon, Barton, Gardner-Webb, Lenoir Rhyne might be more inclined to take a 2nd look if they see that those darn ASU students seem to have a whole lotta fun on football weekends. We also get some pretty good in-state recruits in football, and that has an outward drift as well. In time this will probably return to some baseline steady state. ASU's not going to turn into Harvard, even if they win every FCS national championship from here until kingdom-come.

Lets drift into the area of subjection: Do all schools have this same phenomenon? Maybe not. Georgia Southern has a history of winning National Championships. 6 in fact. So they have probably already experienced a similar effect in the past. Those coming to GSU probably have heard something of this already, and if they were to win another one next year, it probaby wouldn't have as much of an effect.

[GannonFan]

Folks...throwing around the word "proven" in a case such as this is just nonsense. There are very few things in life, science or anything outside of mathmatics or the court of law that is "proven".

Sure, you can apply statistics and correlation and p values to this problem, but whats your sample going to look like, and how are you going to adjust the values for bias? Also, what are you going to define as success. This is very tricky buisness indeed. Everyone's not going to agree, no matter what you do.

So why not look at it in a rational approach. Let's use ASU's recent success, because its a topic i'm somewhat familiar with. Somebody who has more time than I do can go and look this up, for the exact numbers. Maybe from US News?

I've heard that the numbers that applied to ASU increased dramatically in both the past 2 years. I also read in a paper somewhere fairly recently, either the Charlotte Observer or Winston Salem Journal (i think) about how ASU's average adjusted SAT score has taken an upward spike, and deveated from the trend before.

So, if one's accepting the previous statements as true, then one must conclude that there is SOME reason for it. In fact, there may be several reasons.

However, I think that one saying that winning the 1st and 2nd national championship in the school's history, and the 1st football national championship in the state of NC might have something to do with that. Most of the big name schools around here aren't too good at football right now...and people always want to go to a winner. We're probably not having too big of an effect of those that live and die to go to Chapel Hill or Duke but I feel that those who are deciding between ASU, NC State, ECU, UNCC, WCU, UNC Asheville, UNC Greensboro, UNC Wilmington, UNC Pembroke, NC Cental, WSSU and then a couple of other private ones like Elon, Barton, Gardner-Webb, Lenoir Rhyne might be more inclined to take a 2nd look if they see that those darn ASU students seem to have a whole lotta fun on football weekends. We also get some pretty good in-state recruits in football, and that has an outward drift as well. In time this will probably return to some baseline steady state. ASU's not going to turn into Harvard, even if they win every FCS national championship from here until kingdom-come.

Lets drift into the area of subjection: Do all schools have this same phenomenon? Maybe not. Georgia Southern has a history of winning National Championships. 6 in fact. So they have probably already experienced a similar effect in the past. Those coming to GSU probably have heard something of this already, and if they were to win another one next year, it probaby wouldn't have as much of an effect.

Of course, maybe Appy St was doing other things to boost enrollment/increase standards prior to and during the time the football team was winning those 2 titles?? xthumbsupx

[89Hen]

I've heard that the numbers that applied to ASU increased dramatically in both the past 2 years. I also read in a paper somewhere fairly recently, either the Charlotte Observer or Winston Salem Journal (i think) about how ASU's average adjusted SAT score has taken an upward spike, and deveated from the trend before.

http://www.appstate.edu/www_docs/depart/irp/FACTBOOK/FACTBOOK0607/s3sat_graphic.pdf

[FCS_pwns_FBS]

Florida's enrollment hasn't increased dramatically but the qualifications fro acceptance have risen dramatically- unless you are a football or basketball player.xsmiley_wix

The greatest example of how football can affect a school's enrollment is the miracle that happened at Georgia Southern throughout the 1980's.

GSC football and Erk Russell literally put the school on the map, raised its profile, attracted students from all over the country, led to the school achieving university status, and opened the floodgates for money.

The enrollment has more than tripled at GSU since Coach Russell was hired and the football program reborn in 1981, which was exactly what Dr. Lick had in mind when they made the decision to do it and go after coach Russell.

Just to put it in perspective, Georgia Southern College was about 6000 students or so when we started playing in IAA/FCS. Now GSU is at 16000. And even though most of that growth was in the 80s, a lot of that was added around Paul Johnson's time, also.


Having a football team play on TV lets people know that you exist. Period.

[danefan]

UAlbany had a sharp increase in enrollment after our basketball team almost knocked off UConn in the tourney two years ago.

[FCS_pwns_FBS]

Folks...throwing around the word "proven" in a case such as this is just nonsense. There are very few things in life, science or anything outside of mathmatics or the court of law that is "proven".

Sure, you can apply statistics and correlation and p values to this problem, but whats your sample going to look like, and how are you going to adjust the values for bias? Also, what are you going to define as success. This is very tricky buisness indeed. Everyone's not going to agree, no matter what you do.

So why not look at it in a rational approach. Let's use ASU's recent success, because its a topic i'm somewhat familiar with. Somebody who has more time than I do can go and look this up, for the exact numbers. Maybe from US News?

I've heard that the numbers that applied to ASU increased dramatically in both the past 2 years. I also read in a paper somewhere fairly recently, either the Charlotte Observer or Winston Salem Journal (i think) about how ASU's average adjusted SAT score has taken an upward spike, and deveated from the trend before.

So, if one's accepting the previous statements as true, then one must conclude that there is SOME reason for it. In fact, there may be several reasons.

However, I think that one saying that winning the 1st and 2nd national championship in the school's history, and the 1st football national championship in the state of NC might have something to do with that. Most of the big name schools around here aren't too good at football right now...and people always want to go to a winner. We're probably not having too big of an effect of those that live and die to go to Chapel Hill or Duke but I feel that those who are deciding between ASU, NC State, ECU, UNCC, WCU, UNC Asheville, UNC Greensboro, UNC Wilmington, UNC Pembroke, NC Cental, WSSU and then a couple of other private ones like Elon, Barton, Gardner-Webb, Lenoir Rhyne might be more inclined to take a 2nd look if they see that those darn ASU students seem to have a whole lotta fun on football weekends. We also get some pretty good in-state recruits in football, and that has an outward drift as well. In time this will probably return to some baseline steady state. ASU's not going to turn into Harvard, even if they win every FCS national championship from here until kingdom-come.

Lets drift into the area of subjection: Do all schools have this same phenomenon? Maybe not. Georgia Southern has a history of winning National Championships. 6 in fact. So they have probably already experienced a similar effect in the past. Those coming to GSU probably have heard something of this already, and if they were to win another one next year, it probaby wouldn't have as much of an effect.

I seriously doubt that any university in the U.S. or even the world has grown as much as GSU did between 1980 and 2000. When your team does well the school gets media exposure. Most kids today don't even do internet research on possible colleges, they just go with what they know.

As for statistics, you are right that it is impossible to control all variables to test for a theory like this, but after a certain number of successes you have to be thinking that there is something to it. I don't think anyone now denies that smoking increases your risk of cancer.

[AlphaSigMD]

I seriously doubt that any university in the U.S. or even the world has grown as much as GSU did between 1980 and 2000. When your team does well the school gets media exposure. Most kids today don't even do internet research on possible colleges, they just go with what they know.

As for statistics, you are right that it is impossible to control all variables to test for a theory like this, but after a certain number of successes you have to be thinking that there is something to it. I don't think anyone now denies that smoking increases your risk of cancer.

True. So GSU did have a big surge in the 1980's-2000's. Would a 7th championship cause as big a rise/transition as those first few? My position is no, because GSU is already known for excellent football (pre BVG) and there's not been enough time elapsed to constitute a lull. I bet it would cause some increase though.

But otherwise, if it looks like a duck and quacks...

[AlphaSigMD]

http://www.appstate.edu/www_docs/depart/irp/FACTBOOK/FACTBOOK0607/s3sat_graphic.pdf

Apparently I was misinformed. xthumbsupx

Thanks for clearing this up.

[appfan2008]

asu's application number has risen very rapidly over the past few years and there is no denying the fact that football had to have had something to do with that!

[PaladinFan]

Oh, and as an FYI. Florida has an enrollment of 56k students, and sits as about the 6th largest institution in the country.

They don't need any more applicants.

[WUTNDITWAA]

A good case study would be East Tennessee State. Is enrollment up or down there?

[citdog]

asu's application number has risen very rapidly over the past few years and there is no denying the fact that football had to have had something to do with that!


is it football or hot hot hot?

[89Hen]

Apparently I was misinformed. xthumbsupx

Thanks for clearing this up.
It could be up for the 2007 class... those figures weren't posted.

My point about it not panning out that you get better applicants is that IMO the people who would apply to a school because of a football team, might not be the most academic students around. xpeacex

[turfdoc]

As someone who works with university students daily I can tell you it matters to them. When a school like UNI beats Iowa State the students now do not have to answer, "Why did you end up going to UNI?" UNI did a study in the 90's exploring dropping football and discovered from their surveys that applications would drop significantly enrollment would have probably stayed the same, but with fewer applicants the standards would be lower.

UNI was the most difficult of the three State schools in Iowa to get into (still may be).

As a person whose job it is to do research first and teach second I can tell you students get a better education at most FCS schools compared to most FBS. The research at the FCS schools is also usually geared to helping undergraduate students VS postdocs and PhD students so they acutally get more and better research experience at the smaller less research intensive universities.

This weekend I am off to a student recruitment fair, I will be wearing a football jersey on Saturday and Hockey Jersey on Sunday and I can tell you that even here in Ontario having a good football team is important to some students (even non-athletes) that I meet this weekend. They want to be proud and they want to have fun on Saturday afternoon.

[ASU88]

A good case study would be East Tennessee State. Is enrollment up or down there?
Good thought. They didn't close the whole school ... just canned the football team, right? Went to Johnson City to see an ASU-ETSU game in the mini-dome my freshmen year. :)

Seems I read recently the ASU had well over 13,000 applications to fill about 3,200-3,300 freshman spots. Average incoming GPA is 3.73.

When I went there (mid-80s) many people thought of it as where you went when you didn't get into Carolina or State. Not so anymore.

[appfan2008]

is it football or hot hot hot?

definately hot hot hot!!!

[LehighFan11]

When i was applying to schools last year i picked my top 3 or 5 schools based on academics and other important factors. I needed to have a few other schools i may not be interested in as much and for those I kind of just thought of anything big and near by. I looked at West Virginia basically only because i followed their football team and said to myself "hey i wonder if this would be a good school". I never applied there cuz i realized the school wasnt very good. But my point is that having a really good football team or basketball team or even a surpising year in one of those sports may get a high school student to think about the school but they wont apply unless it fits their needs and ablities.

[Catsfan2]

I think it does if it's a major success. I know I referencing basketball, but in the year immediately following Villanova's 1985 national basketball championship, applications tripled and have continued up ever since.

[HIU 93]

Not just football, but sports success in general. Look at Georgetown. Georgetown's basketball success in the 1980s had a great impact on the school's overall attendance and reputation.

[grizband]

I was on a campus tour at Gonzaga two years after their deep run into in the NCAA tournament. I remember someone on campus telling me that the year following the NCAAs, Gonzaga experienced a 33% increase in applications.

[HIU 93]

I was on a campus tour at Gonzaga two years after their deep run into in the NCAA tournament. I remember someone on campus telling me that the year following the NCAAs, Gonzaga experienced a 33% increase in applications.

Absolutely. After we beat Iowa State in the tourney in Boise in 2001, there was a significant spike in applications from Idaho and Montana. We would normally get maybe one a year from those states, but we received over 200 from those states after that game.

[Tealblood]

In the time since we have had football applications have gone up.

But equally as important for us is since the inception of football retention has started going up

Retention has historically been a problem at CCU so many kids who have to prove to mom and dad that they are serious about college for a year before transfering to USC-columbia or clemson. Plus the huge number of students who come here from Northeastern States and realize that they are a long way from mom and dad