For institutions focused on long-term academic reputation and measurable student outcomes, the question isn’t just whether live sports generate excitement — it’s whether athletics also contribute to student success.
A growing body of research indicates a positive connection between athletics and student engagement.
Studies across multiple institutional types have found that students who participate in campus traditions — including attending athletic events — report higher levels of belonging, stronger peer networks and greater institutional attachment. Those factors are consistently associated with improved first-year persistence and higher graduation rates.
In national surveys such as NSSE (National Survey of Student Engagement), “sense of belonging” and “campus engagement” strongly correlate with academic performance and retention. A 2024 Student Voice survey of former students with no degree found that 60% of those who withdrew didn’t participate in any activities during their time on campus.
The University of South Florida sees athletics not as an extracurricular add-on, but as a structured engagement platform.
USF President Moez Limayem views the university’s upcoming move to an on-campus stadium — bringing football home for the first time in university history — as infrastructure for community formation, not just as a revenue asset.
On-field success and postseason visibility also have been linked at some institutions to application increases and expanded geographical reach – sometimes labeled the “Flutie Effect” after Boston College quarterback Doug Flutie’s 1984 Hail Mary win that resulted in a nearly 30% increase in applications over the next two years.
Other examples include:
- Georgetown University, which saw applications surge by 45 percent in the mid-1980s behind the success of its men’s basketball program and star Patrick Ewing.
- The University of Georgia, where applications jumped from 28,000 in 2020 to 39,000 in 2021 on the heels of a college football national championship.
- Florida Gulf Coast University, which experienced a more than 20-fold increase in sales of men’s basketball-related merchandise and a 36% jump in overall applications after its men’s basketball team’s 2013 NCAA Sweet Sixteen run.
USF’s leadership acknowledges these potential benefits but is careful not to overstate the case. CEO of USF Athletics Rob Higgins emphasizes that “the one thing that hasn’t changed is our priority on the student-athlete experience.” The parallel goal is enhancing the student experience in ways that strengthen institutional attachment for all 50,000 students — not just the 500 student-athletes.
The governance principle is straightforward: Belonging drives persistence; persistence drives completion; completion strengthens institutional outcomes.
In that sense, athletics are not the strategy. They are a lever within a larger institutional framework that includes academic advising, predictive analytics, student support systems and campus life programming. USF’s wager is that engagement, when intentionally designed and rigorously measured, supports academic excellence.
As college athletics continue to evolve, institutions like the University of South Florida are adapting structures and investments with a broader academic strategy. Explore USF’s approach to a new era of college athletics in this playbook.
