Understanding the factors that influence student-athlete enrollment is fundamental to achieving recruitment goals. This is especially true at NAIA institutions, where, on average, student-athletes make up 20 percent of undergraduate populations.
In the spring of 2024, the NAIA sought to further explore the key determinants of student-athletes’ enrollment decisions by surveying current NAIA student-athletes. Participants were asked to rank a series of factors related to the institution — athletics, academics, coaching, finances, and the influence of friends/family — on a scale from one to five, with one indicating that the factor was “not important at all” in their decision to enroll and five indicating it was “extremely important.”
Based on those responses, here are the top five factors influencing NAIA student-athlete enrollment:
1. Athletic Scholarship (4.16): Earning an athletic scholarship represents the ultimate goal for many student-athletes. Athletic scholarships assist with the affordability of higher education and demonstrate that an institution values the athletic contributions of a student-athlete. This is particularly important to transfer students (4.20), who rated athletic scholarships slightly higher than non-transfers (4.15).
2. Preferred Program/Major Offered (4.15): Preferred program/major offered is nearly tied for the top spot with athletic scholarship, showing that NAIA student-athletes value academic offerings as much as athletics. Although rated higher among women (4.27) than men (3.98), most NAIA student-athletes prioritize finding an institution that offers the right program/major for them and their desired vocation.
3. Opportunity to Play (4.04): NAIA student-athletes are motivated to make meaningful contributions to their teams, and ensured playing time is important in their enrollment decisions. Although opportunity to play is highly regarded among all student-athletes, transfer students (4.06) tended to prioritize it slightly more than non-transfers (4.04), suggesting that it is an important selling point of their next institutional pick.
4. Financial Aid Received (3.97) & 5. Affordability (3.92): As higher education costs intensify, student-athletes continue to be conscious about their financial decisions. Both the financial aid received and an institution’s general affordability increase the likelihood of enrollment for all student-athletes. That said, these factors are especially important for first-generation student-athletes (financial aid received: 4.31 and affordability: 4.03), who typically face more prohibitive costs and increased barriers when navigating the financial aid process.
Each year, Return on Athletics® (ROA) captures data from across the organization to track what’s trending across NAIA athletics and how those trends can be used by institutions to make decisions. From emerging sports to the amount of financial aid awarded, sports expenses, and net return, these trends are the benchmarks NAIA institutions can use […]
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Return on Athletics® (ROA) is a free NAIA member resource that helps institutions make more informed, data-driven decisions about their athletics programs. By bringing together institution-, sport-, and student-level data, ROA provides insights into enrollment, retention, financial aid, and athletics finances, enabling campus leaders to evaluate performance, identify opportunities, and strengthen long-term financial sustainability. How […]
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