Observing Academic Performance Based on Increased Educational Spending: An Assessment of the FedEx Center at the University of Mississippi

Williams, Matthew (2014) Observing Academic Performance Based on Increased Educational Spending: An Assessment of the FedEx Center at the University of Mississippi. Undergraduate thesis, under the direction of Carl Kitchens from Economics, The University of Mississippi.

Preview

Text Matt Williams Thesis 3 5 2014 copy.pdf Download (357kB) | Preview

Abstract

In 2007, the FedEx Student-Athlete Academic Support Center, a renovation from the Starnes Center, was completed at the University of Mississippi to provide student- athletes a facility to improve academic performance in the classroom. FedEx donated $2.5 million to the project, covering half of the total expenditure. This private funding presents an opportunity to study how increased spending on education affected performance amongst student athletes in the classroom. Using semester-by-semester GPA of student-athletes and graduation rates from 2003 to 2009, it is possible to identify which students were exposed to the new facilities and thus, able to assess the effect of this exposure. The results show no change in graduation rates; however grade point averages increased by .17 for those exposed to the new facilities.

Actions (login required)

View Item