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The popular image of college football is that of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I programs whose nationally known student athletes participate in televised bowl games before being drafted by the National Football League (sometimes entering the draft before finishing college). The salaries of Division I team coaches can outstrip those of their university presidents, not to mention those of their faculty, by millions of dollars. However, college football is also popular at smaller institutions whose players rarely go on to professional football careers or participate in nationally televised bowl games as college athletes. Indeed, roughly half the smaller private colleges and universities that are members of the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) have football programs on their campuses. The recent adoption of football by many smaller independent colleges is the focus of this report by the College Sports Research Group at the University of Georgia. This brief delves into the effects of adopting football on recruitment and student enrollment in general, male student enrollment in particular, and net tuition revenue at CIC member campuses. In addition, the story of Berry College is recounted as a case study of a college's decision-making process with regard to the addition of football to the college's sports roster. The aim of this brief is to provide an informative examination of the role of college football at smaller independent colleges and universities.

Empirical research on the effects of price rises on college attendance is reviewed. Emphasis is placed on the validity and usefulness of an approach to postsecondary pricing increasingly being employed in the public sector. This approach, which is labeled the targeted subsidy approach, stresses that greater equity and fiscal efficiency result from moves away from low tuition policies toward higher tuition levels and higher levels of student aid funding. The evidence suggests that responsible movement toward a targeted subsidization financing scheme should not appreciably affect enrollment rates in the long run. The view that significant tuition rises necessarily threaten equality of educational opportunity is labeled as myth. Although the value of the targeted subsidy approach is generally upheld by the review, caveats are suggested regarding three of its central assumptions: the rational actor assumption, the "ceteris paribus" assumption, and the "efficient delivery" assumption. Suggestions for further research focus on the need for greater knowledge regarding individuals' processing of information as they make their college-going decisions. A 10-page bibliography is appended. (SW)

The impact of a new policy in Minnesota that raised college tuition while also increasing state student aid funding was studied. A literature review examines the influence of economic, psychological, sociological, and cultural factors on student attendance patterns. In addition to access, choice, and persistence, the study considered educational expectations and plans as important aspects of college attendance. Specific concerns were: (1) whether financial factors affected high school juniors' plans to attend college; (2) actual enrollment; (3) college choice; and (4) the quality of aid packages for needy students. The study utilized data gathered about high school juniors in 1979, 1981, and 1983 via the Students Plans and Background Survey of the Minnesota Post-High School Planning Program (the base number for each cohort was 1,000 students). Follow-up data were obtained from 400 students per cohort via questionnaire/telephone survey. Results include the following: (1) financial factors appeared to negligibly influence the college plans and expectations of high school students; (2) high school achievements and previous expectations for college attendance were the most influential enrollment influences; (3) while financial issues did influence college choice, academic factors were primary influences; and (4) the adequacy of aid packages for independent students declined. Numerous tables and figures and an eight-page reference list are provided; study questionnaires are appended. (SW)

A study compared states' approaches to pricing and discounting, via student aid, of undergraduate education. Results suggest that region, social and economic resources, and postsecondary governance arrangements each have distinctive connections to the nature of state tuition and aid policies. Of particular interest were results relating to high-tuition/high-aid policies ("rationalization"), concentrated in the Northeast and Midwest. (Author/MSE)