University of Missouri experiences the Flutie effect with influx in freshman applications

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Editor's Note: "Flutie" was spelled incorrectly. It has since been changed to reflect the effect named after Doug Flutie.

The University of Missouri is catching the eye of many students, having received over 23 thousand applications for the upcoming freshman class, as disclosed at the latest Board of Curators meeting.

MU spokesperson Christian Basi notes a significant surge in numbers. MU students have attributed it to the "Flutie effect." The Flutie effect is the increase in attraction to a university due to the success of its sports teams.

Fresh off an 11-2 season and a Cotton Bowl victory, the Tigers have become a popular choice among students. Basi acknowledges the positive impact of the football team's success, citing it as a great way to enhance the university's visibility.

"There is the football team success, and that always helps. That's a great way to get out the name," Basi said.

Students themselves recognize the influence of sports success on the university's appeal.

"When you have a good football program, it brings in more people, you know, people want to see good sports," added Jacob Diehl, a junior at MU.

A Freshman Student at MU Katie Whitemarsh added, "People want to come somewhere where we win, and the added attention is going to attract people in, and it's just going to make the Mizzou culture so much better."

Basi mentions that successful sports teams become helpful in exposing the university rates.

"When you're talking about retention rates, graduation rates, job placements rates, along with the great attention that we get from successful athletics, all that of that helps to get people excited about coming here," Basi said.

Despite the surge in applications, he notes that over 5,000 students have already made their down payment for the upcoming fall. However, the university is facing delays in rolling out federal government loans.
"We have been encouraging our students to continue completing the FAFSA if they haven't done so already. As soon as we get that data, we'll be able to turn around financial aid packages relatively quickly," Basi said.

He also acknowledges that factors other than football contribute to enrollment rates, citing the growth in high school graduates during the last successful football season a decade ago.

"There was growth in the high school graduates. So, they were physically more students graduating high school back then as well. And we were seeing that grow each year, and so we also saw our enrollment grow," Basi said.

Looking ahead, Basi acknowledges the potential for a decline in enrollment due to a nationwide decrease in high school graduates and emphasizes that the university is closely monitoring this trend.