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Student-Athletes? The Impact of Intercollegiate Sports Participation on Academic Outcomes

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  • P Wesley Routon

    (School of Business, Georgia Gwinnett College, 1000 University Center Lane, Lawrenceville, GA 30043 USA)

  • Jay K Walker

    (Department of Economics and Finance, 5795 Lewiston Rd., Niagara University, NY 14109 USA)

Abstract

As of 2011, there were over 444,000 college athletes playing for over 18,000 teams in the United States. Using data from a longitudinal survey of college students at over 400 institutions, we estimate the impact of participation in intercollegiate athletics on academic outcomes. We focus on whether the effects differ across sports and student demographics including gender, race, and pre-college academic ability. Among our results, we find participation in college sports has a small, negative effect on GPA. This effect is stronger among football and basketball players, stronger among males, weaker among top students, but does not differ across race.

Suggested Citation

  • P Wesley Routon & Jay K Walker, 2015. "Student-Athletes? The Impact of Intercollegiate Sports Participation on Academic Outcomes," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 41(4), pages 592-611, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:easeco:v:41:y:2015:i:4:p:592-611
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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