Center for Business and Economic Research - Ball State University


CBER Data Center
Projects and PublicationsEconomic IndicatorsWeekly CommentaryCommunity Asset InventoryManufacturing Scorecard

About

Commentaries are published weekly and distributed through the Indianapolis Business Journal and many other print and online publications. Disclaimer

RSS Feed

Disclaimer

The views expressed in these commentaries do not reflect those of Ball State University or the Center for Business and Economic Research.

Recent

The Undersupply of College Graduates Is Clobbering Indiana’s EconomyNationwide, about 8 in 10 of all net new jobs go to 4-year college graduates.

Inflation Is a Policy and Political ProblemWe should all be humble in our criticism of the federal government in causing inflation.

The Lives of Mothers Through the Last CenturyThe women of the 20th century witnessed the most stunning technological and economic growth.

Lilly CEO Speaks to Indiana’s FutureIndiana must better educate a higher share of its young adults and make more communities into places they’d like to live.

View archives

Top Tags

jobs and employment 216
economics 168
education 134
economic development 131
taxes 120
finance 104
recession 96
state and local government 95
budget and spending 87
unemployment and the labor market 84
Browse all tags
Reporter / Admin Login

April 12, 2010

Educated Athletes Add Value to the Magic

I think I finally am beginning to understand the Hoosier delight with the game of basketball. Butler University’s splendid season certainly illuminated this passion. For someone not born and bred in Indiana, this team certainly provided an advantageous lesson in the sport, and what it means to so many. But that’s not why I write. I will instead share an economic and educational lesson about college athletes here. 

Both despite and because of what we saw Monday night, college athletics are much beloved and maligned. A good many folks in academe dislike college athletics because they are thought to pull resources away from the classroom and weaken the scholarly focus of a university. In their defense, that is partly right. Forrest Gump should not have played that fifth year at Alabama, and the NCAA routinely penalizes universities for even trifling infractions. But that is the smallest part of the story. 

The greater truth is that what we learn from athletics might be just as important as what we learn in the classroom. Today colleges large and small fret a great deal about ethics and character education. Yet every parent of a kindergartner knows that those lessons are first reinforced outside the family on grassy soccer and t-ball fields. To suppose that a hard fought game of anything is not relevant to the 18-22 year old denizens of a university is simply wrong. It is telling that at the American schools where character development matters most; West Point, Annapolis, and Virginia Military Institute, every student has to participate in organized athletics each and every semester.

The composition of the Butler team clarifies this point. Even on this team, I’d bet the number of future physicians exceeds the number of future professional players by two to one. Butler might be different, and we all love them for it. But, in this respect they are not unlike other schools. Scholarship athletes across the country are far more likely to go to graduate school, start a business or become classroom teachers than they are to move on to professional sports. This is true in big schools with big programs. I know this first hand, having taught at three universities with unbeaten regular football seasons (Tennessee, Marshall and Ball State). Former students of mine play Sunday football each week, but even at Tennessee, graduate or professional degrees among former players outnumber professional contracts by a wide margin.

The poorest criticism of college athletics is that it draws financial resources from education. That isn’t even true in the strict accounting of a program. In reality athletics educate, as well as drawing resources into a university for other activities. Butler spent $11 million on athletics this year, most of it for scholarships. I assure you they made it back just this week, in part from tens of thousands of alumni enchanted by the special magic of athletes going to class in the morning, and playing their hearts out at night.

Link to this commentary: https://commentaries.cberdata.org/26/educated-athletes-add-value-to-the-magic

Tags: sports


About the Author

Michael Hicks cberdirector@bsu.edu

Michael J. Hicks, PhD, is the director of the Center for Business and Economic Research and the George and Frances Ball distinguished professor of economics in the Miller College of Business at Ball State University. Hicks earned doctoral and master’s degrees in economics from the University of Tennessee and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Virginia Military Institute. He has authored two books and more than 60 scholarly works focusing on state and local public policy, including tax and expenditure policy and the impact of Wal-Mart on local economies.

© Center for Business and Economic Research, Ball State University

About Ball State CBER Data Center

Ball State CBER Data Center is one-stop shop for economic data including demographics, education, health, and social capital. Our easy-to-use, visual web tools offer data collection and analysis for grant writers, economic developers, policy makers, and the general public.

Ball State CBER Data Center (cberdata.org) is a product of the Center for Business and Economic Research at Ball State University. CBER's mission is to conduct relevant and timely public policy research on a wide range of economic issues affecting the state and nation. Learn more.

Terms of Service

Center for Business and Economic Research

Ball State University • Whitinger Business Building, room 149
2000 W. University Ave.
Muncie, IN 47306-0360
Phone:
765-285-5926
Email:
cber@bsu.edu
Website:
www.bsu.edu/cber
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/BallStateCBER
Twitter:
www.twitter.com/BallStateCBER
Close