| Abstrakt: |
College administrators and athletic supporters often justify expenditures on college athletics with the argument that athletics serves as the "front porch" of the university. If prospective students, donors, and other constituents are impressed with a university's athletic program, they are more likely to provide resources to the university, thereby improving institutional quality. In this paper we test the correlation between educational quality and measures of athletic success, on and off the field and court. Our findings are supportive of the front porch hypothesis, but not in the way that many would expect. Specifically, we find that institutions that are size-appropriate, and as a result have the resources to play Football Bowl Subdivision athletics, also have higher measures of educational quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
