Do colleges promote there athletic programs over there academic programs

Do colleges really promote there athletic programs over there academic programs first became a thought of mine in a discussion i had with my older sister around the beginning of my senior year of high school. The discussion began as another one of her conversations that goes like this you need to figure out what colleges your going to apply to cause senior year here and will be gone before you no it and blah blah blah but the conversation quickly switched to how she was so upset with the college that she attends which is the university of southern Florida. The football team had recently been ranked national top 25 and had been moving up the ranks rapidly to wear it was ranked number 3 in the country her schools name was every where all you heard about was how usf was ranked nationally for the first time ever the school went from the general public not knowing much about it to if you mention the name usf most people new exactly what school you where talking about and all about the football team. This irritated my sister allot because she is one of those people that goes to a school because its a good school not because of its sports programs she has always felt that athletes are put on a plateau and are showered with glory for there achievements but but academic achievements do not receive the same amount of attention.

My knowledge on this subject is limited at this point. What i do know is that it is widely known for colleges to give out many full athletic scholarships but what i don't know is if the number of academic scholar ships are comparable.


I am going into my research with a open and clear mind to try and find out if athletics and academics are treated equally and if more opportunity's are given to athletes going into college rather than regular students and if the number of opportunity's that both the student and athlete will receive while in college are equal.