Educational contributions, academic quality, and athletic success

This article examines the role of successful Division I football and basketball programs in motivating alumni and other donors to make charitable educational contributions to U.S. universities. Results from fixed effects analysis of panel data on 87 universities for the period 1986–87 to 1995–96 indicate that year‐to‐year changes in athletic success have a positive impact on levels of alumni giving, but that other types of donors are not as responsive. Also, long‐standing athletic traditions established prior to the sample period appear to generate academic benefits in the form of increased charitable donations from all sources. However, the estimated impact of a successful athletic tradition is relatively weak when compared to the effect of student and faculty quality on educational contributions.