Ninth International Conference on Sport & Society

Abstract

This study quantitatively and longitudinally examines the cumulative effects of individual student characteristics, pre-college backgrounds and college environmental factors and how they interact to influence whether college athletes at academically selective institutions feel prepared for the future upon graduation from college. Based on an extensive review of the existing literature, a conceptual model was developed and tested using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Freshmen (NLSF). This study finds that while graduation from college is positively associated with feeling prepared for the future for non-athletes, there is no significant relationship between graduation from college and feeling prepared for life after college for athletes. These results, which hold true when controlling for race and gender, highlight the importance of extending the measure of academic success beyond earning a college degree.