Being a student-athlete is an amazing feat! We get to play the sport we love at an incredibly high and competitive level. We play with teammates, who share our passions, for our institution, which we care deeply about, and are proud to represent. While we always share anecdotal stories of why/how being a collegiate student-athlete has a positive influence on our life, we wanted to share some formidable research, which illustrates the positive effects of following your dreams!
The study split their conclusions into undergraduate experiences and post-college outcomes, meaning they took a look at life overall, while in college, and how former student athletes faired after graduation. All were compared to non-student athletes, and their experiences during and post college.
As an undergraduate student, athletes were more likely to feel as though their professors cared about them as a person. Athletes were also more likely to have one or more mentor/professor on campus who encouraged them to follow their goals and dreams. Athletes were also more likely to hold a leadership position on campus, and graduate in 4 years or less. Again, all of these metrics were compared student-athlete to non-student-athlete.
Post-college comparisons showed that former student-athletes were more likely to be thriving socially, physically, and financially. In addition, former student athletes are more likely to pursue advanced degrees compared to non-student athletes. Finally, former student-athletes were more likely to have a job waiting for them after graduation, than non-student athletes.
*All information was reported from Gallup's 2020 research article, "A Study of NCAA Student-Athletes: Undergraduate Experiences and Post-College Outcomes". Here's the article:
