(06-05-2016 09:31 AM)DetroitRocket Wrote: (06-05-2016 08:25 AM)Stpetebeachrocketfan Wrote: Good article here, although some MAC schools were not mentioned. UT is the least subsidized school and the most responsible with the amount of money they are asking students to spend. The schools that are probably going to see cuts & soon include Akron, EMU and NIU. Akron and EMU just spend way too much student fees on athletics. NIU spends less but the subsidy is still high and there is a major budget mess in Illinois brewing and cuts are already being considered at NIU.
http://www.bcsn.tv/news_article/show/656160
Asked how much athletics played a part in choosing a MAC school, 73 percent of respondents said it was unimportant or extremely unimportant.
I love UT sports, but administrators saying that having DI sports is helping any MAC school academically, in terms of raising enrollment or any other type of prestige is a complete fabrication. If it were true, attendance for most MAC sporting events wouldn't be so awful.
It isn't about getting students to attend
because of the athletic programs. Few students will do that anywhere I suspect, even at the "big name schools". Its about getting name recognition out across the country outside of Lucas county.
Having worked for 30ish years with highly educated people from all across the country, I can tell you that the majority of them had never heard of UT, or thought it was a small local school or a community college. Of those that did know, many, many did so because of the athletic programs. You can't attract the best students or compete for grant money if no one has heard of you. The athletic programs help that name recognition significantly.
Of course, that kind of thing is really hard to quantify, so who knows, maybe nothing would change if athletics were eliminated entirely. But, historically, UT was just a commuter school, with many (most?) people choosing it by default, because they couldn't afford to, or didn't want to, leave town for school. That type of student, in general, doesn't form a life-long attachment to the school, and doesn't become a donor. I would guess that using advertising to get the same level of name recognition across the entire country would cost at least as much, if not more as funding the athletic program.
But again, that's just my opinion.