A disturbing report on the March 25 episode of HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel showed a college athlete pulling a stack of books out from under his bed written by Dr Seuss. That was the upper limit of his reading ability, and HBO hypothesized that one factor causing elite athletes to have elementary-school reading skills upon graduation was that universities had lowered graduation requirements enough to ensure that at least 50 percent of athletes at the schools got their degrees.
The NCAA reformed its academic practices about 10 years ago and considers the change one of its greatest success stories, HBO reported. One change, which came in 2003, was to require schools to graduate at least 50 percent of their student-athletes or lose scholarships or postseason opportunities. That could cut a school’s revenues by tens of millions of dollars, so universities did everything they could to keep their graduation rates above 50 percent. Here are a few steps colleges took:
- Allow students to graduate with degrees in programs like “general studies,” “interdisciplinary studies,” or “liberal studies,” degrees that prospective employers quickly recognize as “football degrees”
- Have athletic departments assign students to easy courses, which is nothing new, but now students don’t even have to attend class
- Remove tests from every class athletes take, leaving only the submission of a paper, which can be copy-and-pasted from the Internet or even written by a tutor
Of course, the NCAA’s move in that same year to eliminate the minimum SAT score requirement of 820 meant universities would be accepting athletes who weren’t qualified for college in the first place. A score of 820 on the SAT is incredibly low, but the rule change was seen as leveling the playing field for minority athletes, who statistically score lower on the SAT. It had no such effect.
The NCAA believed research that showed a score of 820 gave a student a 50 percent chance of graduating with a four-year degree, but that didn’t matter anymore, because the association was throwing out the requirement. The only requirement now is that a university graduate at least a majority of its scholarship athletes. But colleges can admit, basically, anyone they want.
One thing the HBO report didn’t mention was that these student-athletes must have graduated from a US high school in order to get into college. How did that happen if they can’t read any books harder than Green Eggs and Ham? I can only conclude, based on this report, that high schools go along with this, thinking they’re providing an opportunity for their graduates.
It seems to me that coaches, colleges, high schools, and even the athletes themselves are all in on this joke. I think we have to keep in mind that each student made a contract when he signed a national letter of intent: In exchange for the student’s athletic ability, which he freely gives to the school, the university promises to give the student an education. It seems the university stands in breach of that contract if it fails to provide an education, as long as the student lives up to his end of the bargain.
