TCU Sees Enrollment Boost After Magical Run To National Title Game

TCU is seeing more enrollment action after the team's incredible football season last year.

The Horned Frogs finished the season 13-2, and made an incredibly unexpected run to the national title game. Sure, they got boat raced 65-7 by Georgia in the title game, but the fact they got there is already paying dividends.

Specifically, more kids accepted to TCU are going. Dean of admissions Heath Einstein told On3 that TCU has seen a 2.5% enrollment increase since last football season among accepted applicants. The Horned Frogs put the university on the map for a lot of people and elevated its profile.

"When I first got here, we were a good local brand. This puts us as a national brand. I’m not saying we’re Texas or Georgia. We’ve become a national brand," AD Jeremiah Donati explained to On3.

TCU sees enrollment boost after making the national title game. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

TCU is learning football can make a program a destination school.

It might be hard for some people who don't love sports to understand, but having a dominant football program or just a great athletic department in general is great for enrollment.

Kids want to go to schools that are a ton of fun. Nothing makes a campus more fun than awesome sports teams. It gives you an excuse to party all the time.

TCU had a great college football season last year. The Horned Frogs lost last year in the national title game against Georgia. (Photo by Jordon Kelly/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

A local or regional brand can become a national brand very quickly with a powerhouse football team. There's no greater example of this than Alabama under Nick Saban.

The 2022-23 freshman class at Alabama consisted of only 37% of students from the state. Overall, only 42.1% of students are from Alabama, according to 1819News.

In 2002-03, 22.7% of students were from outside of Alabama, and the number rose to 42.8% for the 2010-2011 year. By that time Saban had a few years under his belt, and had already turned the program around. Alabama went from being at best a regional program to a national brand. Kids now come from all over the country to enjoy Tuscaloosa.

In case you were wondering, out-of-state tuition at Alabama is $31,460 a year. The university must love all that money.

Nick Saban turned Alabama into a national brand. (Photo by Ken Murray/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Now, TCU is enjoying a similar kind of boost. Granted, it's a little different because TCU is a private school. Tuition is the same no matter where you come from, but more accepted students enrolling is a sign the brand is becoming more powerful.

The Horned Frogs are slowly building up the program's national profile, and if they can string together several more great years, TCU could really be cooking with gas.

That's a HUGE "if," but it's everyone's goal at the university.

TCU gets a boost in its profile after making the national title game. (Photo by Steve Limentani/ISI Photos/Getty Images)

If anyone has a kid needing a college to attend and nearly $70,000 burning a hole in your pocket, you know where to look.