[82lsju]

So, opening Stanford up broadly to athletic transfers will result in one of two things: 1) expanding the size of the Stanford student body beyond what the university has determined is optimal for its elite status, or 2) privileging athletes above other equally talented students, resulting in resentment and inequality.

it's been a while since i studied algebra, but assuming i remember correctly, if (as suggested above) we make it easier to replace the number of athletes transferring out with an equal number of athletes transferring in, the total number of athletes does not "expand"; it remains constant - at or below the number of athletic scholarships. the size of the student body also remains constant. and the % of athletes in the student body does not increase; it, too, remains constant.  or am i misunderstanding?

That was my proposal, but the problem is not that it expands the number of athletes, but that it would set the precedent for non-athletes to transfer as well, which would in fact increase the size of the student body.  On the other hand, restricting transfers just to athletes would create the opposite problem--privileging a certain class of students over others who may be equally talented in other ways. 

The other problem--and perhaps a big one--is that if transfers of athletes in and out of Stanford heats up, it winds up damaging the university's stats on graduation rates and retention rates vis a vis our elite academic competitors, who do not have that problem.  So participating in the revolving door--even successfully--will come at a price to one of the ways elite universities compare themselves.

way back in pre-historic times my class ('82) had ~200 total transfers in, ~50% as sophomores (I was one of them) and ~50% as juniors which is ~12% of the class.  We generated a list of the ~200 likely transfers in with the SAA as part of our 35th reunion.  I have no idea if the transfers out for my class totaled ~200.  My vague recollection is that back then the transfers in were a planned net add to the class size

[82lsju]

So, opening Stanford up broadly to athletic transfers will result in one of two things: 1) expanding the size of the Stanford student body beyond what the university has determined is optimal for its elite status, or 2) privileging athletes above other equally talented students, resulting in resentment and inequality.

it's been a while since i studied algebra, but assuming i remember correctly, if (as suggested above) we make it easier to replace the number of athletes transferring out with an equal number of athletes transferring in, the total number of athletes does not "expand"; it remains constant - at or below the number of athletic scholarships. the size of the student body also remains constant. and the % of athletes in the student body does not increase; it, too, remains constant.  or am i misunderstanding?

That was my proposal, but the problem is not that it expands the number of athletes, but that it would set the precedent for non-athletes to transfer as well, which would in fact increase the size of the student body.  On the other hand, restricting transfers just to athletes would create the opposite problem--privileging a certain class of students over others who may be equally talented in other ways. 

The other problem--and perhaps a big one--is that if transfers of athletes in and out of Stanford heats up, it winds up damaging the university's stats on graduation rates and retention rates vis a vis our elite academic competitors, who do not have that problem.  So participating in the revolving door--even successfully--will come at a price to one of the ways elite universities compare themselves.

way back in pre-historic times my class ('82) had ~200 total transfers in, ~50% as sophomores (I was one of them) and ~50% as juniors which is ~12% of the class.  We generated a list of the ~200 likely transfers in with the SAA as part of our 35th reunion.  I have no idea if the transfers out for my class totaled ~200.  My vague recollection is that back then the transfers in were a planned net add to the class size