"Scholarship Athletes get a four-year ride free of the mountainous student loans that burden so many of their peers — a collective $900 billion worth. Ask any parent who is paying tuition what a scholarship is worth. Pay players? Please. We’re already paying them as much as a half-million dollars apiece over four years, maybe more. And we’ve done a lousy job of explaining that to them."
Other universities have found that March Madness success quickly translates into admissions success, with more applications from a wider range of students. It will be months before VCU’s administrators will learn if the same is true for them, but the school’s admissions Web site has seen a spike in hits, said Pamela D. Lepley, VCU’s executive director of university relations. “It certainly makes recruiting easier,” she said. “Now you don’t have to explain who VCU is.”
In the past two weeks, “VCU” has been a trending topic on Google, and the university’s main Web site has been getting millions of hits — including 11 million last Sunday when the Rams beat Kansas to make it into the Final Four
Last Edited: 4/5/2011 10:16:13 AM by OUbobcat9092
http://eagle.gmu.edu/newsroom/591/ Merten notes, however, that there are key areas where the benefits have been documented. They include admissions, alumni relations, and development/fundraising. Following is a partial listing of specific benefits in these areas as a result of Mason’s Final Four appearance:
Admissions
Alumni Relations
Development/Fundraising
Mason officials look for these numbers to increase. “The response to our Final Four experience could not be more positive. The greater interest in our institution better enables us to strengthen our primary mission – to provide our students with the highest quality education we can,” says Merten.
SCHOOL IMPACT
The George Mason University bookstore typically has sales of $11,000 per week. During the ten day run to the Final Four, the bookstore took in $876,000 (a figure that exceeded the bookstore’s sales for the entire previous YEAR). They sold 36,000 t-shirts.
The team, which notably graduates 100% of its players, had an immediate, remarkable impact on the appeal of George Mason University to high school students as well as to the university’s selectivity. The school experienced a 350% increase in inquiries, and out-of-state applications went up by 54%. SAT scores and high school GPAs of admitted students went up exponentially.
Droves of alumni began donating money to the university. Hits on the school’s athletic site went up 503%, and there were 5 million Yahoo “Mason Final Four” searches. The George Mason basketball team put George Mason University on the map in more than just basketball. They were a colossal adrenaline boost to the university’s lure and academic rigor.
Last Edited: 4/5/2011 11:39:06 AM by BattleCat
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