A Longitudinal Study of Academic Clustering at a BCS
Football Program
Clustering is operationally defined as occurring when 25% of the players on a team are in
one academic major.
Case, Greer and Brown (1987)
Major Football Players Undergraduates
Sociology 10 of 38 (26.3%)
62 of 19,603 (0.3%)
Sociology 14 of 43 (32.6%)
123 of 3,821 (3.2%)
Economics 35 of 75 (46.7%)
666 of 5,019 (13.3%)
Sports Management 11 of 33 (33.3%)
176 of 22,971 (0.8%)
Sports Management 11 of 50 (22%)
248 of 24,517 (1%)
Sport Administration 29 of 66 (43.9%)
843 of 14,058 (6%)
Residential Property Management
10 of 54 (18.5%)
75 of 19,218 (0.4%)
Communication 23 of 52 (44.2%)
241 of 2,000 (12.1%)
Business Management
Social Science
Liberal Arts
Apparel, Housing & Resource. Mgt.
Sport Management
Sociology
Communications
Arts and Science
Criminology
Sociology
Sociology
“You need to get your priorities right; you need to change your major”
Engineering to Child and Family
Development
"These kids are getting steered into less rigorous
majors, or majors with friendly faculty."
"I do admit I did it myself, and I'm ashamed of it, and I
wish I'd never done it."
"To be honest with you, I think I got more of an
education in high school."-Antoine Wright
“…every school has majors the majority of the athletes are in. . . . To a certain extent, I feel I was
taken a little advantage of because I wasn't briefed on what was going to happen.”
2005 2006 2007 2008
“UNLV athletes question degrees in University Studies”– 5% of all UNLV Juniors and Seniors• 60% of the Juniors and Seniors on the football team• 58% of those on the baseball team• 83% of those on the men's basketball team
– 2.0 vs. 2.5 GPA Requirement– “Cheating on tests”– “Degree reaps no rewards”– “Hesitant to cite their degree on job applications”
"I think it's a meaningless
degree. ... To tell you the truth, I think it's lower
than an associate degree.”
2007 SR University Studies
2006 JR University Studies
2005 SO Economics
Business Management Business Management
Finance & Real Estate Social Science
Business Management Liberal Arts
Sociology Apparel, Housing & Resource. Mgt.
Academic Cluster 2005 2006 2007 2008Business Management
Social Science
Liberal Arts
Apparel, Housing & Resource. Mgt.
Year Liberal Arts
2007 5 of 7 Early in L.A.
2006 6 changed into L.A.3 of 3 Early in L.A.
2005
Business Management
Liberal Arts
2005 2006 2007 2008
Year 2004 2005 2006 2007
Football Revenue $32,349,795 $33,940,686 $49,898,477 $41,468,428
Athletic Department Profit $8,265,356 $3,346,502 $9,538,210 $6,139,158
2008 Academic Participation
Men's Football Participants 127 Participants Reporting a Major 88 19 20 24 25Changed Major 1 or more times 8 4 3 1
Academic Majors Team Total Football - White Football - Minority
All Upperclass Lowerclass Upperclass LowerclassAccounting and IS 2 0 2 0 0
Apparel, Housing, & Resource Mgt 21 4 0 13 4Biology 3 1 1 0 1
Building Contruction 1 1 0 0 0Business Info Technology 1 1 0 0 0
Business/Management 7 1 3 1 2Communication 4 0 1 0 3
Crop & Soil Environmental Science 1 1 0 0 0Electrical Engineering 1 0 1 0 0
Engineering Science & Mechanics 1 1 0 0 0Finance 4 3 1 0 0
2008 Academic Participation
Men's Football Participants 127
Participants Reporting a Major 88 19 20 24 25Changed Major 1 or more times 8 4 3 1
Academic Majors Team Total Football - White Football - Minority
AllUpperclas
s Lowerclass Upperclass LowerclassAccounting and IS 2 0 0.0% 2 10.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0%
Apparel, Housing, & Resource Mgt 21 4 21.1% 0 0.0% 13 54.2% 4 16.0%Biology 3 1 5.3% 1 5.0% 0 0.0% 1 4.0%
Building Contruction 1 1 5.3% 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0%Business Info Technology 1 1 5.3% 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0%
Business/Management 7 1 5.3% 3 15.0% 1 4.2% 2 8.0%Communication 4 0 0.0% 1 5.0% 0 0.0% 3 12.0%
Crop & Soil Environmental Science 1 1 5.3% 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0%Electrical Engineering 1 0 0.0% 1 5.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0%
Engineering Science & Mechanics 1 1 5.3% 0 0.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0%Finance 4 3 15.8% 1 5.0% 0 0.0% 0 0.0%
Major A# of Football Participants
ever enrolled in a class
# of Football Participants
ever enrolled in more then
one class
Live Lecture Format
On-line Format
Independent/ Directed
Study
Avg. Football
Participant GPA
Dr. Sally Anderson 5 0 5 0 0 2.32.3
Dr. Allen Bowser 21 10 21 0 0 2.82.8
Prof. James Franklin 42 12 20 22 0 3.13.1
Dr. Todd Jones 80 55 5 0 75 3.93.9
Dr. Zack Lewis 2 0 0 2 0 1.81.8
Prof. Ben Peterson 10 0 10 0 0 2.22.2
Dr. John Smith 1 0 1 0 0 N/AN/A