March Madness college basketball success ‘boosts applications’

A successful season in a wildly popular US college basketball tournament appears to boost the number of applications some institutions receive the following year, analysis suggests.

The annual men’s National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 1 knock-out competition – won this year by the University of Connecticut’s Huskies on 2 April – sees dozens of the best college teams in the country fight it out every year in three weeks of frenetic action.

Averaging more than 10 million viewers per game, March Madness, as it is commonly known, is a golden opportunity for smaller campuses to increase their visibility.

Analysis of figures from the National Center for Education Statistics by Times Higher Education shows that the top 16 colleges in the 2019 edition saw applications increase by an average of 16 per cent across 2020-21 and 2021-22.

This compares with a 5 per cent increase for all other colleges recorded in the data who did not make the so-called “Sweet 16”.

And the figures show that those that made the coveted “Final Four” saw applications rise by an average of 19 per cent.

However, the 2020-21 and 2021-22 application cycles might have been affected by the pandemic.

Vern Granger, director of undergraduate admissions at the victorious UConn, said the university experienced a 10 per cent rise in first-year applications the year after it won both the men’s and women’s tournaments in 2014.

“As a result of our past experiences, and those of other institutions, we could expect to see an increase in fall 2024 applications,” he said.

“UConn’s basketball teams have always generated great support from students and alumni, and contribute positively to the student experience on campus,” he added. “I feel this is something many students are looking for when selecting a college, and therefore why it might contribute to increases in applications.”

Juan Espinoza, associate vice-provost for enrolment management and director of undergraduate admissions at Virginia Tech University, said a good run could affect applications because of the positive attention and increase in brand recognition.

“The focus on the student athletes, who in many ways serve as ambassadors of the university, will also put the university in a positive light,” he added. 

However, the same effect might not be felt equally across all institutions – some of which vary hugely in size.

Duke University, which is historically one of the best-performing basketball teams in the country and went out at the Sweet 16 stage in 2019, said it did not see a rise in applications as a result.

Christoph Guttentag, Duke’s dean of undergraduate admissions, said that was consistent with his view that the benefit from a sudden increase in visibility occurred when the success was “unusual”.

patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com