Table 1 Number of Varsity Athletic Teams at Ivy League, ACC, and Big Ten Universities in 1998-99 Ivy League ACC Big Ten Brown 36 Clemson 17 Illinois 18 Columbia 26 Duke 23 Indiana 20 Cornell 34 Florida State 17 Iowa 21 Dartmouth 32 Georgia Tech 14 Michigan 23 Harvard 38 Maryland 22 Michigan State 24 Pennsylvania 28 North Carolina 26 Minnesota 22 Princeton 34 N.C. State 19 Northwestern 18 Yale 29 Virginia 22 Ohio State 32 Wake Forest 16 Penn State 28 Purdue 18 Wisconsin 22 Average for the 32 20 22 League Average Undergraduate Enrollment in the Conference 7,890 14,489 27,513 The number of teams was calculated by the author from a search of the institutions world wide web pages in February 1999. Indoor and outdoor track were counted as one sport, as was swimming and diving. Crosscountry was considered a separate sport. If both women s and men s teams were present for a sport, they were counted as two sports. Undergraduate enrollments are for the fall of 1995 and come from WEBCASPAR.
FUNDING OF CORNELL UNIVERSITY S 36 VARSITY SPORTS AT THE END OF THE START OF THE 21 ST CENTURY A) SELF-FUNDED FROM GIFTS AND ENDOWMENTS (10) 1. MEN S SPRINT FOOTBALL, LIGHTWEIGHT CREW, POLO, SQUASH, GOLF, BASEBALL AND TENNIS (7) 2. WOMEN S POLO, SQUASH AND EQUESTRIAN (3) * B) OVER 50% FUNDING FROM ENDOWMENT AND GIFTS (14) 1. MEN S CROSS COUNTRY, HEAVYWEIGHT CREW, SOCCER, SWIMMING AND DIVING, AND TRACK AND FIELD (indoor and outdoor) (6) 2. WOMEN S CROSS COUNTRY, FENCING GYMNASTICS, CREW, SWIMMING AND DIVING, TENNIS AND TRACK AND FIELD (indoor and outdoor) (8) C) TRADITIONAL MAJOR SPORTS- MAJORITY OF THE FUNDING FROM UNIVERSITY APPROPRIATIONS (12) 1. MEN S FOOTBALL, BASKETBALL, ICE HOCKEY, LACROSSE AND WRESTLING (5) 2. WOMEN S BASKETBALL, ICE HOCKEY, LACROSSE, FIELD HOCKEY, SOCCER, SOFTBALL AND VOLLEYBALL (7) *Women s sailing was added as the 37 th sport in 2014 and the program announcement suggested it falls into category A.
Table 2 Number of Ivy League Varsity Athletic Titles Won During the 1981-82 to 1996-97 Period by Each Institution and the Institution's 1996-97 Endowment Per Student a School (SAT Range) b Brown 1290-1480 Columbia 1270-1470 Cornell 1250-1440 Dartmouth 1330-1520 Harvard 1390-1580 Pennsylvania 1270-1460 Princeton 1350=1530 Yale 1340-1530 Number of Titles Won Total Male Female Football Basketball Hockey Endowment Per Student (in $000) 56 13 43 0 1 2 128 27 24 3 0 0 0 173 48 29 19 2 1 5 111 58 32 26 6 0 0 249 129 66 63 3 0 11 610 70 38 32 8 7 0 131 135 74 61 3 8 0 776 55 30 25 2 0 2 526 a Number of titles won in the individual sports can exceed 16 (the number of years in the sample) due to ties. b 25 th to 75 th Percentile SAT range Source: The 1997-98 Directory and Record Book of Ivy League Athletics (Princeton, NJ: Council of Ivy Group Presidents, 1997); Cornell University 1998-99 Financial Plan: Operating and Capital: May 1998 (Ithaca, NY, May 1998).
Table 2a Number of Ivy League Varsity Athletic Titles Won During the 1997-98 to 2017-17 Period by Each Institution and the Institution s 2006 Endowment Per Student (1981-82-1996-97 Titles) SCHOOL Total Male Female Endowment Per Student (millions) Brown 45 (56) 25 (13) 22 (43) 0.34 Columbia 49 (27) 35 (24) 14 (3) 0.39 Cornell 100 (48) 65 (29) 37 (19) 0.27 Dartmouth 46 (58) 18 (32) 28 (26) 0.71 Harvard 153 (129) 74 (66) 77 (63) 1.81 Penn. 72 (70) 39 (38) 33 (32) 0.45 Princeton 224 (135) 108 (74) 113 (61) 2.62 Yale 61 (55) 31 (30) 33 (25) 1.97 Source: www.ivyleaguesports.com The correlations between the 1981-82 to 1996-97 and the 1997-98 to 2016-17 numbers of titles are: Total 0.89, Male 0.85, Female 0.81. The correlation between the total number of titles in the latter period and endowment per student in 2014 is 0.75. In the earlier period Cornell ranked 7 th in the league in terms of titles won. In the later period it ranked 3 rd in the league. Can its success in recent years be sustained?
Table 3 Average Values for the 1981-82 to 1996-97 Period Across Ivy League Institutions in the Differences Between the Average Academic Indices for Recruited Athletes and the Class as a Whole at Each Institution Sport Absolute Difference a Percentage Difference b Mean Range Mean Range All Male 13.7 11.5-16.9 93.2 91.5-94.1 Athletes Male Basketball 16.8 12.5-19.0 91.6 90.4-93.6 Male Football 17.6 14.4-19.7 91.3 90.0-92.6 Male Hockey 19.0 17.9-20.9 90.7 89.5-91.5 Source: Confidential data provided by the Ivy League office. a Absolute difference is the average over the 16-year period of the average AI for the class minus the average AI for the type of athletes at the institution in each year. b Percentage difference is the average over the 16-year period in the average AI for recruited athletes divided by the average AI for the class as a whole at the institution in each year. c Only 6 of the 8 institutions had male hockey teams during the sample period.
Figure 1 Relationship Between Athletic Ability and the Academic Index For Recruited Athletes to an Ivy League School Athletic Ability A B C A Academic Index AI 1
Table 4 Determinants of Ivy League Universities' Varsity Athletic Teams' Performance: 1984-85 to 1996-97 Period (absolute value t statistics) (1) Male Titles (2) Female Titles (3) Male Hockey Wins (4) Male Basketball Wins (5) Male Football Wins SHELP -.227 (1.4) -.441 (2.6) -.596 (1.7) -.092 (0.2) -.110 (0.5) ACLASS.139 (5.3).089 (3.2).192 (3.4).023 (0.3).043 (1.2) MAENR.077 (0.6) 1.076 (5.0).172 (0.6).311 (2.0) FEENR.276 (2.2) MAALL.438 (2.3) FEALL -.524 (4.3) HOALL -.011 (0.1) BBALL.273 (1.2) FBALL.061 (0.7) R.242.356.288 -.007.010 N 104 103 72 100 101 SHELP ACLASS MAENR ALL MAALL FEALL HOALL BBALL FBALL Average freshman self help level in thousands of dollars for the current and past three classes Average admission index for all enrolled freshmen for the current and past three classes Average full-time male undergraduate enrollment in thousands for the current and past three classes Average percentage difference over the current and past three years between the average admission index for all enrolled freshmen and the average admission index for all enrolled Male freshman athletes Female freshman athletes Male freshman hockey players Male freshman basketball players Male freshman football players
Messages in Revisiting the Game of Life 1. There has been a widening and a persistent split between academics and athletics at selective private colleges and universities 2. Athletes at these institutions, on average, under perform academically relative to what one would expect them to do, given their admissions characteristics. This underperformance has been increasing over time. Other recruited groups of students, such as musicians, do not exhibit such under performance. 3. Athletes tend to major in different subjects than the class as a whole they tend to be concentrated in social science and business classes. 4. Admissions preferences for recruited athletes are large and growing and often exceed those given to legacies and underrepresented minority students. 5. These conclusions come from a study of the Ivy League, 11 small selected private colleges, the University Athletic Association (Chicago, Brandeis, Rochester etc.) and make use of data from the class of 1999. 6. The problems raised by athletics are more severe at the selective liberal arts colleges because a greater share of their student body consists of recruited athletes. As admissions pressures grow, the ability of institutions to reserve portions of their class for athletes goes down (Swarthmore s decision of a few years ago to eliminate football) 7. Underrepresented minority admissions preferences have declined over time, their academic credential have improved and their degree of underperformance has declined over time. The compelling social reasons for the preferences received by them may not exist for athletes. 8. Policy Options Include a. Improved monitoring at the conference and institutional levels of admissions and athletes academic performance once they enroll b. Encourage participation by non recruited athletes (fewer admissions preferences)
c. Evaluate coaches as teachers not by their won/loss records d. Reduce the time commitment needed for varsity athletics e. Eliminate or reduce participation in national championships f. No athletic scholarships or extra preferential packaging for athletes