Chapter 4 Athletics and Academics

A different way to answer the question “what is the educational quality athletes receive?” is to examine what majors they end up with. Not all majors require equivalent hours in class and studying, and not all majors will produce a similar flow of earnings in the future. An electrical engineering degree is probably more demanding than a degree in economics, which in turn, is more difficult than education or sociology. Not surprisingly, electrical engineers tend to be paid more than economists who, in turn, earn more than sociologists or teachers. The next time you watch college sports on television, keep an eye out for the occasional student-athlete profiles that list the player’s position, year in school, hometown, and major. What are the most common majors for athletes to take? Any guesses?¹⁴

Does it matter which program of study a student-athlete enrolls in? If the choice of major is entirely up to the student then the answer is no. If Jennifer is attracted to sociology and is able, through her sociology classes at USC, to challenge herself academically, improve her critical thinking skills, gain perspective on issues such as poverty or racial discrimination, and prepare herself for the challenges of life ahead of her, then we would be hesitant to second-guess her decision. After all, economists believe the person best suited to making decisions about how we live our lives is us!

But what if Jennifer’s choice is not entirely her own? What if her coach or other Athletic Department staff put pressure on her to take sociology rather than a subject she is more strongly attracted to, like electrical engineering? Unfortunately, Jennifer’s choice of major is already restricted because any degree program that has afternoon classes or labs is off limits to student-athletes because those classes conflict with practices. As a result, you rarely see student-athletes declared as Art, Architecture, Chemistry, Pre-dentistry or Pre-med majors. Even if a student is interested in such a course of study, her coaches may try to steer her to something less demanding, something that will not interfere with athletics, even if it is the student’s preferred choice.¹⁵ Another problem is the 40/60/80 rule that we mentioned in Section 4.3. If Jennifer decides to change her major from sociology to electrical engineering she may put her eligibility at risk. Many of the required courses for the sociology major that she has already taken will not apply to the engineering degree requirements. She may be aware that this means an extra year or two in college, but she will no longer meet the requirement for satisfactory progress in her major.

Not only will the Athletic Department “strongly encourage” students to take certain majors and not others, but — as indicated earlier — they will help the student establish a degree plan comprised of as many “gut” or “Mickey Mouse” courses as possible, as well as courses taught by professors who are known to favor athletes. Some courses are even taught by Athletic Department personnel themselves. A recent case in point, and one that attracted considerable media attention, was assistant coach Jim Harrick Jr.’s “Coaching Principles and Strategies of Basketball” class at the University of Georgia. His course was notable for the fiendishly difficult multiple-choice final exam his students were required to take. How difficult was the exam? Let’s see if you can answer any one of the following three questions. How many halves are there in a college basketball game? How many points does a field goal count for in a basketball game? How many points does a 3-point shot count for? Did you manage to answer any of the questions correctly? Do your professors ask you hard questions like those on their exams?¹⁶
4.8 Chapter Summary

Like the previous chapter, you have been introduced to some of the ways in which student-athletes are harmed by the policies of the NCAA and its member institutions. In this chapter the focus was on academics and different ways in which the college sports industry can compromise the education of some student-athletes. Ultimately, whether you believe any academic harm is created or tolerated by NCAA requires reformation of collegiate sports is something you must decide for yourself. As always, if you are interested in exploring the academic issues raised in this chapter at greater length, please refer to the readings listed in the References and Selected Bibliography below. Now let’s move on to Chapter 5 in which we explore the labor market for college coaches.

1. What are some ways athletic departments keep their athletes eligible?

2. If a high school student-athlete has a 400 SAT score, can she still be admitted to an NCAA school? Under what circumstances could she eventually be allowed to play intercollegiate sports?

3. Why would a NCAA DI institution oppose an increase in eligibility requirements? Which schools would be more inclined to support such an increase? Less inclined?

4. The term “eligibility” has two different interpretations, what are they?

5. In general are student-athletes more or less likely to gradate than their peers who do not participate in sports?

1. What are some of the flaws in the way graduation rates are calculated?

2. How will NCAA member institutions react to these rules changes? Imagine that you are the Athletic Director at a Division I institution. Currently, your graduation rate does not meet the minimum threshold established by the NCAA. What actions will you take to increase graduation?

3. Discuss the pros and cons of FERPA.

4. Discuss the pros and cons of imposing costs on student-athletes who transfer.

5. If the NCAA imposed stricter academic admission standards, there will be little impact on schools like Duke that typically accept only students with high test scores and good high school GPAs. Schools with much lower admission standards, which in past were able to recruit good athletes that had poor academic qualifications, will be greatly affected. These latter schools might accuse Duke of supporting these changes to gain a competitive advantage. In what sense is Duke also trying to reduce a competitive disadvantage?

6. In 6.2 we discussed a case where the Pac 10 Conference imposed tougher eligibility standards than the NCAA. Why would a conference ever voluntarily choose a higher standard than required by the NCAA?

7. There are many cases where schools have recruited talented athletes with a questionable past. There is a significant chance that these students will continue their anti-social behavior and the school will be forced to expel them or drop them from the team. What is the risk to the school, and why would they do so? Which schools are most likely to recruit such an athlete?

1. Go to the NCAA web site (http://www.ncaa.org/grad_rates/) and access graduation rate information for your school (if your school is not a member of the NCAA, choose any school of your choice). Compare the results to those reported in Table 4.3.

2. Go to the NCAA site (www.ncaa.org) to see current status of APR policy and enforcement.
4.12 References

Access to parking records denied: Department of Ed., NCAA back University of Maryland’s stance on FERPA. (1997, Fall). Student Press Law Center Report, 18, 11. Retrieved July 18, 2004, from http://www.splc.org/