Student Recruitment Headwinds
It’s a fact. In the current environment of declining U.S. birthrates, increased emphasis on career-focused education and added anxiety over student debt and the cost of higher education, most colleges and universities are having to compete harder to maintain, much less grow, their student populations. Many institutions, especially smaller private universities, must rely heavily on creative recruiting and retention strategies to maintain enrollment levels. This is not at the expense of high-quality curriculum but as a supplement, knowing that they need to provide the fulfilling experience that prospective and current students are looking for.
Sports Participation is One Answer
Sports, whether at the varsity, club, intramural or just recreational level, is a key enhancement for the nearly 8 million annual graduates who were able to compete in high school varsity sports and want to continue as they make decisions regarding their next steps in life. Universities who not only offer but heavily promote sports activities on campus increase their appeal and their winning percentage in the competition for students.
Varsity Sports Opportunities
Intercollegiate competition team sports, especially in key traditional sports like football, basketball, soccer, volleyball, baseball, softball, and others, by their very nature are expensive to offer and can only fulfill a portion of student sports demand. Some small universities who understand the demand for athletics in college have been able to provide up to 50 percent of their students with an opportunity to be part of a varsity sports team. The camaraderie and sense of belonging created by being part of a team is critical not just to student recruitment and retention but also to student educational success.
Other Sports Opportunities and Challenges
Even at universities with high intercollegiate sport participation there can still be a significant gap between the opportunities and the demand for sporting activities. Obstacles include limited facilities, lack of understanding by educators of the importance, lack of creative planning, prioritizing of varsity over recreational sports participation and others. With a little creative thinking these challenges don’t need to be overwhelming.
Creative Sports Enhancement On a Budget
Well-organized intramural, club or recreational sports activities can fill the sports gap without major university investments by following a few simple suggestions:
Recruit interested upper-class students to take lead roles in creating and managing these activities using staff only in an advisory and oversight role.
Select sports that require little or no expensive facilities or equipment like cross country, running clubs and dodgeball or frisbee football.
Take advantage of existing varsity sports facilities when not in use for pickleball, indoor soccer (futsal), and indoor frisbee football.
Ask students what opportunities they want as they are the best source of information.
Peer Promotion
Just having a wider range of sports opportunities isn’t enough. Aggressively promote opportunities by getting students to join sports groups, creating a sense of belonging. While there are of course students who are not interested in sports activities, sometimes it just takes a fellow student to invite them to join in.
The Rewards
Private universities who understand and go out of their way to create, manage, fund and support sports and recreational activities at all levels will find themselves in a position of strength when appealing to students and their parents to become part of their university.
Future Economic Impact
In addition to robust student enrollment, strong sports programs, especially at the intercollegiate competition level, breed pride in the university for students and alums. This pride can have a lasting impact on future alumni donations when it comes time to raise funds for new athletic programs, equipment or facilities or to endow a coach’s salary.
