Intercollegiate Athletic Success and Donations at NCAA Division I Institutions

Abstract

The authors tested the hypothesis that donations to universities vary with athletic success using a comprehensive panel data set drawn from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) over the period of 1976–1996. Estimation of a linear reduced-form model of the determination of donations to colleges and universities indicates that postseason football bowl-game and NCAA Division I men’s basketball-tournament appearances were associated with significant increases in restricted giving and no increases in unrestricted giving to public institutions the following year, whereas only postseason basketball appearances were associated with increases in restricted giving to private institutions.