The Football Effect - University of Tennessee
It seemed like most counelors I talked to this past application season, no matter where they were from, were asked to add one specific college to their application list after about October 15, 2022. Does the University of Tennessee ring a bell for anyone else? If it makes you feel any better, you were far from alone on this request. Check out the numbers reported By UT itself on this year’s application cycle.
“This year, UT experienced record growth in the number of first-year applicants, totaling 47,838 applications by the Dec. 15 regular admissions application deadline, a stunning 40.2% increase from last year which was driven largely by out-of-state applicants. By Feb. 14, the number of applications had increased to 49,790.”
Now, for the more frustrating part of this equation, how many of you had students that would have normally listed UT as a fit - or each safety - school in the past get waitlisted or outright denied? Check out the updated admissions data from this same cycle.
“For the fall 2023 admissions cycle, the university reported an in-state acceptance rate of 59.4% and an out-of-state acceptance rate of 33.3%, a drastic decrease from the year before.”
For those of you who don’t follow sports, please reference THIS VIDEO to explain why everything mentioned above occurred in the first place. Everyone has an opinion on college athletics one way or another, but when you see schools raising millions of dollars to hire and fire coaches, build new stadiums, and found collectives for Name, Image, and Likeness opportunities, this is why. The University of Tennessee is the most recent school to showcase this phenmonmen, but it can happen to any school (more likely the ones with FBS football and competitive men’s basketball).
Another example of this application surge happened in 2021 when the University of Cincinanati competed in the College Football Playoff Semifinal against Alabama. Even though they lost that game, the culmination of the season resulted in a massive spike in applications, creating a revenue opportunity of roughly 1.8 BILLION dollars for the university. Tennessee’s application spike creates an even larger revenue opportunity than that.
So why should you care?
For most students, college sports is inextricable from college interest. Whether they care about the sport itself or not, the attention given to winning schools, and specifically the culture showcased by winning student sections, have a way of drawing in even the most casual fans. What I would suggest, even if you don’t pay attention to sports, is to pay attention to big news surrounding college football and college basketball. There are opportunities to move the meter in other sports, but you’ll catch most of the application trends if you focus on these two. You’ll be able to research those schools specifically and prepare for the impending conversation with your client or child when they “just so happen” to gain an interest.
