24 Bowl Teams Fail Academic Standards
More than a third (38%) of the 64 college football teams headed to bowl games this season have failed to meet academic standards set by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, according to an annual report released on Monday by the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida. Last year, more than 40 percent of bowl-bound teams failed to meet the same NCAA standards.
Under an NCAA measurement called the Academic Progress Rate, teams are scored on a scale of 1 to 1,000 based on whether their athletes stay enrolled and make adequate progress toward their degrees. Teams that do not achieve a score of at least 925, which equates to roughly a 50-percent graduation rate, may lose scholarships.
Twenty-four of this season's 64 bowl teams scored lower than 925. Of the teams that scored below 925, more than half came from the largest six conferences.
See the complete list of the 64 teams' Academic Progress Rates.
See the full report here.
From the report, graduation rates for the 64 NCAA Bowl teams:
White football student-athletes: 74.3%
African-American student-athletes: 55.7%
2 Comments:
I'm curious if there is a source that shows the success rate of those same athletes into pro football. Those 64 college teams are the cream-of-the-crop for the NFL draft.
Wouldn't the investment of an extra hour's practice on the football field be worth more than an hour's extra studying if that was the difference in turning pro? That's classic opportunity cost economic theory: Isn't it?
It's difficult to blame the athlete whose goal is a pro career instead of a college degree. After all, we tell them to pursue their dream and that takes hard work and dedication. Football first: Study second.
Personally, I believe college is a place to learn and shouldn't serve as a free minor league for the NFL. I am more impressed with educated football players. Maybe we need a law/rule that says the NFL can only draft college graduates. But, that's not the real world today.
From the report, graduation rates for the 64 NCAA Bowl teams:
White football student-athletes: 74.3%
African-American student-athletes: 55.7%
With African-Americans making up just 13% of the U.S. population and 69% of the NFL player positions, the white guys better get a college degree!
(Sources: U.S. Census Bureau 2000 and USA Today).
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