College football is a significant part of American culture and a revenue source for many schools. At first thought, college football is associated with large Division I programs within the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) with fanfare, traditions, and national following. However, most college football athletes do not play at the…

Small, private colleges provide an essential element to the landscape of higher education, offering intimate class sizes and high touch experiences for traditional college populations. Led by an institutional president, who sets strategic initiatives, while working with senior-level staff and faculty to accomplish mission, the president of a…

The academic success of student-athletes is a hot topic on college campuses. This exploratory action research study seeks to understand the best ways to support student-athletes at a small, private college with a large student-athlete population. Utilizing the Whole Student Theory of Advising (WSToA) framework, student-athletes were surveyed and…

The recruiting component is a critical piece to the success of collegiate athletic programs. Small colleges that rely on athletic programs as a branch of enrollment management find coaches and athletic directors continuously searching for the most talented student-athletes to increase the chances of winning games. Along with talent, coaches must…

This narrative research study examined the college transition stories of first-generation college students who participate in Division III athletics at a small, private, liberal arts institution. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight first-generation college students who were recruited for and actively participate in varsity…

The focus of this case study was a study abroad program for student-athletes at a high academically achieving, small liberal arts college in the mid-west region of the United States. The program is designed to maintain a culture of internationalism and multiculturalism by exposing as many student-athletes as possible to study abroad. I reviewed…

This study examined the relationship between successful athletic programs and admissions at small, private, NCAA Division I colleges. The premise of this project focused on the Flutie factor, which suggests that media coverage resulting from winning athletic programs leads to an increase in both applications for admission as well as a stronger and…

The purpose of this study was to identify the factors that contributed to the persistence of first-time full-time student athletes at a small private college affiliated with National Association Intercollegiate Athletics. The study used focus groups to determine the factors related to the persistence of student athletes. The participants in the…

The purpose of the study was to understand and explain the overall culture and subcultures of Prairie College (a pseudonym) and how those cultures socialized students to persist or depart from the institution. In accordance with the higher education student retention theory and research of Braxton (2000), Kuh and Love (2000), and Kuh (2001), there…