Within intercollegiate athletics, there is continued pressure for academic institutions to keep academics a priority over athletics. Revenue sharing and increased television contracts have created more variables within an athletic strain theory. The problem is that schools focus more attention and revenue toward on-field success than academic achievement leading to unethical academic actions. The literature speaks to a culture of compliance in accordance with NCAA regulations with APR but fails to show a definitive link between APR sanctions and corrective institutional behavior. However, cost-benefit theory in cases like UConn men's basketball remain close to the norm rather than the exception. This study was conducted using a quantitative "ex post facto" causal-comparative research design on the causal links between Academic Progress Rate, Revenue and Winning Percentage for institutions within NCAA's Football Bowl Subdivision. A nonexperimental approach was chosen because the independent variable cannot be manipulated. The institutions in this study were not randomly organized as the full 128 institutions data was included within the study. The sampling of the entire population of FBS schools allowed for a total snapshot of quantitative data rather than risking a smaller sample which could deteriorate the validity of the results. This study determined the common mindset within cost-benefit theory of win-at-all-costs holds statistical validity as it relates to financial earnings for colleges and universities. Financial earnings are linked to winning, therefore, the argument in favor of lower-resource schools risking academic improprieties to gain access to higher level recruits gains validity. Although winning and revenue are linked according to the findings of this study, winning is not the only thing leading to programs earning millions of dollars. Tradition within athletics plays a large part as well as programs like the University of Michigan and Texas A&M University have not necessarily competed for championships but continue to top the revenue rankings. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]