NCAA Installs Grad Rate Minimums

[USFCollin]

Looks like we're in for some changes... s/a's in all sports will have to complete 20 percent of graduation requirements for each year of eligiblity they use.  

What I'm wondering is will they count "pre-frosh" requirements like the reading and math courses designed to get students who aren't too strong in those areas ready for Freshman English I and Algebra I.  Seems like a good idea on the whole, however...

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=1792535

[GarySJ]

This is absolutely imbecilic. How the hell do you determine what exactly constitutes "20% progress" towards a degree? Especially when every school has its own degree track and calendar system?

This is just another knee-jerk, unenforceable, NCAA mandate that's going to be off the books in two years.

[USFCollin]

Gary there are rules like this in place now.  For example you can't compete as a fifth year senior unless you have completed (what I'm pretty sure is) 75% of the progress towards your degree.  I'm actually glad that they're going in this direction, as I really wish we'd make freshman ineligible again (yes I know that's never going to happen).  

At USF most undergrad degrees (outside of the hard sciences) take 120 hours to complete.  So fifth-year seniors must have at least 90 credits toward their degree to play that final season.  Assuming the new rules are similar, 20% progress would be 24 credits earned during your first year to play your second.  But some students are asked to take as many as 4 "pre-frosh" classes, so they're actually taking 132 credits for the degree.  Are those kids going to be able to complete 36 hours by the Fall of their sophomore year to get that done?  Is that too much to ask for a first time in college student who is also a student-athlete?  Prop 48 will eat a lot of these kids anyway, as kids who need "pre-frosh" very well might fall under it, and are already ineligible as freshman.  But I wonder if we might be putting too much on the incomings who aren't as academically strong.  

[Markeymark]

I agree, you can't enforce this type of thing.

The only result is that academics will be watered down for certain athletes more than they already are.

The NCAA should just be forthright and admit they are acting as a minor league system for sports like basketball and football.

Who is guarding the henhouse?

[smazza]

alot of mumbo jumbo

[bulls96go]

ncaa at it's best.

surprised, anyone?

[smazza]

but will they enforce it

[goodknightfl]

I think overall it is a good idea.... with a few exceptions.. u  should not be penalized for  transfer,, or early to the pro's.  but u should expect 4 and 5 year players to get a degree.  they are there to go to school.

[GarySJ]

Gary there are rules like this in place now.  For example you can't compete as a fifth year senior unless you have completed (what I'm pretty sure is) 75% of the progress towards your degree.

Well, I've never heard of a guy being ruled academically ineligible by the NCAA for not having made 75% progress towards a degree. In fact I've NEVER heard of the NCAA censuring a school or player over their progress towards a degree. AFAIK the NCAA only gets involved in cases of academic fraud, and entrance-test scores.

I criticize this decision by the NCAA because it's a short-sighted, unenforceable attempt to legislate morality. It's easy to say "well, it's nice that the NCAA is making kids graduate," but in the real world it just doesn't work.

For one thing, it's not the NCAA's job. The NCAA is a governing body for athletics, not a guidance counselor or registration office.

For another thing, the NCAA doesn't have the resources. They can't compare the transcripts of 90,000 student-athletes to the hundreds of degree tracks available at over 1,000 different universities.

Think about how inefficient the NCAA is when it comes to certifying for initial eligibility. And all that involves is getting a letter from Scholastic Testing Services in Princeton, New Jersey with a number written on it, and a transcript from the player's high school with another number written on it, and comparing the two to the established sliding scale minimum. And that can take WEEKS, even if you're fully qualified. Ask Greg Walls.

And to think they're going to review the transcript of every student-athlete in all three divisions at least once a year, and decide who does and doesn't meet the arbitrary standard of "20 percent progress"?

Then there's the issue of how you define "20 percent progress." Is it a number of classes? A number of hours? What if the border of 20 percent ends up representing "half a class"? What if the player's major is undecided? Will this rule punish student-athletes who simply decide to change degree tracks, and temporarily find themselves behind in meeting requirements? What will stop a player from changing majors from a degree track he doesn't have 20% of to one he does, just to stay eligible? What will prevent coaches from designing "degree programs" that meet these requirements but don't actually get the player closer to graduation? What about student-athletes who have to take remedial classes as freshmen (which a LOT of college-bound kids have to do these days)?

There are even more logistic problems with this plan, but I think that makes the point. This is just another short-sighted, well-intentioned piece of legislation that will become nothing more than a mechanism for harassment as it is selectively enforced.

I can't wait for the first news article telling us that Bucknell's second-string discus thrower was suspended for making only 19% progress towards a degree. Meanwhile, no one ever seems to get suspended from Bob Huggins' basketball team, or from the wide receiver corps at the University of Tennessee.

[bulls96go]

who will enforce this?