ABSTRACT

College sports are a multi-billion dollar industry that influence the financial decisions of colleges and universities throughout the United States. One such decision is the implementation of mandatory athletics fees charged to the student body. University administrators introduce these fees under the impression that increased spending on athletics will lead to more successful sports programs, garnering prestige for and interest in the university from prospective students and the public. Using institution-level data from a variety of sources, the following study conducted regression analysis to investigate the relationship between student fees and winning percentages for football and men’s basketball teams at a sample of National Collegiate Athletics Association Division I institutions. Results indicate little to no relationship between student fees and sports performance for football, but some relationship for men’s basketball. The results of this study have the potential to improve administrators’ understandings that a relationship between the investments and benefits is unlikely, potentially preventing cost escalation for students.

摘要

大学体育是一个价值数十亿美元的产业，它会影响整个美国高校的财务决策。一种这样的决定是执行向学生团体收取的强制性体育费用。大学管理人员介绍这些费用的印象是，增加在体育运动上的支出将导致更成功的体育项目，获得潜在学生和公众对大学的声望和兴趣。以下研究使用来自各种来源的机构级数据，进行了回归分析，以调查国家田径协会第一分部的样本中学生费用与足球队和男子篮球队获胜率之间的关系。结果表明，足球的学生费用和运动成绩之间几乎没有关系，而男子篮球则有一些关系。这项研究的结果有可能提高管理员的理解，即投资与收益之间的关系不太可能，从而有可能防止学生的成本上升。